


rebuild

by seraphiel



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2017-12-07 04:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphiel/pseuds/seraphiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sasuke returns, but all is not well. hiatus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story somewhat follows the Manga storyline, all the way up to Danzo's death. After that it follows a different path entirely - Akatsuki is wiped out with Pein, there is no Shinobi Alliance, Naruto never meets Killer Bee, etc.

Danzo's cold, ruthless regime was finally over, and Tsunade was working around the clock to get Sasuke's death sentence repealed, cleaning up everything Danzo had left in his destructive wake. Naruto had been horrified to learn that Sasuke had reached international criminal status, and she herself had been dismayed. The Raikage was adamant and refused to take Sasuke out of his country's bingo book - now that Danzo had declared Sasuke's execution, the other countries had immediately followed suit. The most she could do was persuade the other Kages and reverse Konoha's sentence. Her trump card was the fact that he was a defector from Konoha, and he would subsequently be imprisoned and tried in his home country. She had been accused of favoritism, but had smoothly turned it over with cold, hard facts. Uchiha Sasuke was the last remaining survivor of the Uchiha Clan. Madara's offspring from the product of his DNA would run the 75% probability of high risk deformity, and although Kakashi possessed the Sharingan, it was a transplanted organ and the Uchiha blood did not run through his veins. She argued that the Uchiha Clan deserved a second chance at life - after all, they had not done anything wrong, and their deaths had been a conspiracy. They deserved the right to survive and prosper just as much as any other prestigious clan. The Council members grudgingly passed her repeal, finally acquiescing to her demand when Naruto burst through the doors and gave a tirade on how it was the Council who'd sentenced the Uchiha to death, and now they owed the Uchiha whatever they had to give, if not more. The Conspiracy itself was top-secret, highly classified into compartments. The Council, the Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi were the only souls alive who knew the secret, save Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Madara. The four shinobi in Konoha had all sworn chakra-binding oaths - the minute the secret passed their lips to someone who hadn't been informed, the Council would immediately know and act accordingly. Sai was carefully kept in the dark due to the fact he'd worked for Danzo. His loyalty to the village was vehemently protected and argued by both Naruto and Sakura, but he had not gained the Council's full trust.

Akatsuki had fallen apart with Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Madara's deaths, although the whereabouts of Zetsu was still unknown. Naruto was working hard as well, undertaking missions to the borders of all foreign countries in hopes of catching a glimpse of his self-proclaimed brother. He had not given up on Sasuke yet, fiercely determined to bring him back home. He fought regularly with the Council, searching all over the place for things that would help prove Sasuke's innocence. It had been about half a year since Pein's Invasion, but the after-effects had only just started. The people of Konoha were still cleaning up the rubble, missing shinobi beginning to be declared M.I.A. and their names engraved on Konoha's memorial stone. Many lives and fortunes had been lost, and Pein's Invasion had been declared a national day of remembrance. Naruto took the losses in stride, although Teuchi's death had hit him the hardest. The old man who'd never looked down on him, who'd never refused him and had even offered him free bowls of ramen had been killed protecting his daughter. Ayame was lost in a daze, wandering around the picked-up ruins of Ichiraku Ramen shop and trying to cope with the terrible loss. Pein's mass revival had only saved those who had perished within an hour's time; the rest were lost forever. The population of Konoha had fallen dramatically, there was no one unaffected by the tragedy. Sakura found herself stuck in the hospital for three straight months, whilst Kakashi had been reassigned to the ANBU with Sai on his team to make up for the lost members.

Tsunade leaned back and rubbed her eyes, reaching for the steaming cup of tea on her desk. The moon rose steadily into the sky, but the Fifth Hokage had no time for sleep. She was working hard on the Alliance Treaty between Rain and Konoha, which needed to be passed as quickly as possible. Nobody knew when the remnants of Akatsuki would decide to strike, or what in kami's name they were doing at the moment. Rumors were abound that they were gathering new recruits, but there was no solid evidence. Even though chances of the Akatsuki rearing its ugly head were very low, it wouldn't be long before someone decided to create their own renegade group and terrorize civilians and ninja alike.

The Council was doing everything in its efforts to postpone the alliance, but the treaty was in its final stages now. Konoha needed the support and allies in order to get back on its feet without having to worry too much about the other, more hostile shinobi nations. Tsunade glared at the stack of papers on her desk and was sorely tempted to chuck them into the rubbish just so she wouldn't have to deal with them any longer. She couldn't wait for the day that Naruto became Hokage, she was sick of filling out form after form after form. She stretched, allowing herself a moment's respite before she threw herself back into scribbling with a vengeance, determined to stay up as long as she had to in order to finish the packet.

* * *

 

Deep within the recesses of the hospital, Sakura had taken over her mentor's bad workaholic habit, hastily filling out several procedural forms and scanning the list of her immediate patients. But unlike Tsunade, her choice to stay late wasn't because of wanting to get the work done - which she usually did. Tonight, working overtime was keeping her from home. She was nearly seventeen, the legal age at which she would be allowed to move out, and she was desperate to spend as much time away from it as possible until that time came. Sasuke and Naruto were special cases - nobody would take the kyuubi-host in, and Sasuke adamantly refused to be placed in the foster care system. They had been given social workers and had been given enough money for food, clothes and other necessities, and their apartment and electric and water bills were absolutely free.

But Sakura had parents, and she didn't have a special case. She smiled bitterly at the fleeting thought of Sasuke - what would he say if he knew about her life at home? Would he still accuse her of being a spoiled brat who knew nothing of loneliness and pain? Would he still criticize her for not being able to understand? Would he ridicule her for her perfect family? She smiled darkly for a second before thinking of Naruto and Kakashi. They didn't know. Nobody knew, not even Tsunade. The smile melted and slid off her face.

Her mother was a lazy, good-for-nothing alcoholic who cursed Sakura and told her she wasn't good enough for anything. Her father wasn't any better. He'd deserted them when Sakura was about four years old. She could still remember snatches of what he looked like - all she knew was that she was the spitting image of him, and she hated it. She paused to rub her temples, watching as the words swam around on the page and blurred before her eyes. Deciding she'd prolonged the misery long enough, she clocked out and lightly hopped the rooftops to get home, sliding in through her window and pausing very quietly to listen for her mother. She heard nothing but loud snores, and slipped into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Sakura sat on her tiny bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and gazing at the star-littered sky above. She and her mother lived in the "ghetto" of Konoha. They were far away from the hubbub of the main part of the city, crowded in a tiny flat that they could barely afford with unemployment pay. She couldn't wait for her next mission. She felt rage suddenly bubble up inside her, scanning the tiny, dirty room and thinking,  _why wasn't she ever good enough?_ Her own parents didn't want her, she wasn't even worth having a father who cared enough to stick around, her mother cussed her out every chance she got, words slurred on alcohol, she wasn't enough to get Sasuke stay, she was the least favorite of Kakashi's students - what the hell had he ever taught her? Oh, right. How to climb a goddamn tree. Naruto and Sasuke had received special training, but she'd gotten nothing. She would never, ever be good enough for anything or anyone.

A light flicked on in the hallway, accompanied by a several heavy curses. Sakura winced and silently threw herself into a crouch, simultaneously re-wrapping her kunai pouch around her leg if she needed to leave.

"What the fuck is going on in there?" her mother roared. "All I ask is for some goddamn peace and quiet at night, you worthless piece of shit!" The sound of glass breaking and exploding filled her ears, and Sakura's breath quickened as lurching footsteps staggered down the hall. Tears leapt to Sakura’s eyes and she gasped in ragged breaths. It was all too much to take in at once, and as her mother's heavy feet reached her door, Sakura ducked out of her window and raced off into the night.

* * *

 

Kakashi rocked back on his heels, panting as he reached up with his sleeve to wipe away the blood smeared across his cheek. He gazed around the clearing with half-lidded eyes, feeling rather taxed. He was desperate to just lie down upon the forest floor and sleep forever, but he had a duty and mission to complete. He glanced at Sai, scanning the area for any unseen ninja. Gratefully finding none, Kakashi headed for the first of the bodies, dragging them all into a pile.

Sai quickly sent out ink-scouts before bending over to do the same. It was grim work, but they were both hardened shinobi used to carnage and assassinations, and now, it was just another unpleasant task. They doused the bodies in a flammable liquid and swiftly lit them on fire, pitching in rocks and pieces of wood. Kakashi ignored the foul smell, mulling over the information one of the shinobi had given him right before he died. Whilst under the influence of genjutsu, he'd accidentally parted with mission details and rumors - vital rumors containing information about the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke, Kakashi's former student. Kakashi gritted his teeth and stared out into the forest, dimly noting his left hand was rather sore. He ignored it and pushed on, setting up their tents around the fire, bring out their rations of dried meat and fruit. He considered a soldier pill, but they would have plenty of time to recuperate. They had to make sure there was no trace of human flesh left behind, nor any clues as to what had transpired in the forest. He collapsed on his bedroll, not looking forward to second watch.

Sai leapt to the trees, placing his sword in easy reach. Kakashi had entrusted him with the rumors about Sasuke, the defected member of Team 7 he'd never met - not on friendly terms, at least. From the time Sai had spent with the Uchiha, he'd surmised that the boy was rapidly heading down the path where salvation would soon be impossible. Sasuke was foul-tempered, extremely moody, and very dangerous. In all honesty, Sai didn't think Sakura and Naruto needed to waste their time on him. He obviously didn't appreciate or deserve them, and yet here they were, giving and giving while they got nothing but betrayal in return.

Sai couldn't really understand their bond, but they loved him, and Sai thought that if they loved him, then that was reason enough for him to love Sasuke too. Naruto and Sakura had taught him what it was like to feel again, and he owed them more than they would ever know. They'd drawn him out of his darkness, with their benevolence and sunny dispositions, and he felt himself warming up to them. Sakura was the embodiment of hope, in his opinion. She was radiant and beautiful, even if he called her ugly. She gave him butterflies that Naruto didn't, and at first he'd attributed it to this thing called love, but he could plainly see she solely belonged to Sasuke, and Sai would never be able to replace him. He supposed that Sakura gave everyone butterflies, and didn't mull on it much longer. He sighed and leaned back against the tree, thinking about how his two teammates would react to the news. He gave a little wince and looked down at his ribs - one of the shinobi had gotten a hard kick in between attacks, and he was afraid one of them was broken. He surmised he'd stop by Sakura's the minute they got back to Konoha. Hours passed, and he fell into his sleeping bag as Kakashi slouched to take second watch.

It was a long, hard trek back - the ground was frozen and wintry beneath their feet, but at least the snow was melting. Sai tugged his cloak higher up his neck, pinks cheek with the cold. His impassive eyes regarded Kakashi, burdened heavy with thought and the scroll resting in his pack. Not for the first time, a surge of anger shivered down his spine. Sasuke had made them all like this - Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. While he was out gallivanting with his band of criminals, the ones who loved him were suffering back home, and he seemed to not care in the least about it. Sai was not a man of emotions; rather of cool, clinical observation and slight amusement, but this made him mad. He disliked seeing his teammates downtrodden all the time, faces long and drawn and putting up fake smiles and laughs to please everyone around them. He wanted those smiles to be real, those laughs genuine. He knew he could not fill the void the way Sasuke could - not even close. So he made it his duty to aid them in whatever way he could, to repay them for showing him happiness and real friendship again. Every mission he had, he tried to glean information on Uchiha Sasuke. He sincerely hoped they could help the Uchiha like they'd helped him. They were his inspiration, he mused.

Night was heavy as they fell upon the gates of Konoha, both sighing inwardly in relief as they checked in and passed through the gates.

"I'll take this to the Hokage," Kakashi said, vanishing in a puff of grey smoke. Sai took off for Sakura's house, leaping lightly across the rooftops. He glanced down at the streets below, several stragglers left in the streets. He flew silently to Sakura’s apartment, slipping agilely through the open window and alighting on her paper-strewn floor. She was in the middle of it all, hovering over a complex jutsu scroll, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, hair slipping over her face. She hadn't even noticed him - he was unsure whether to scold her or feel content with the fact that his chakra signature posed no threat to her and was quite familiar. He cleared his throat and she jumped in shock.

"Sai!" Sakura hissed, eyes wide. "How the hell do you know where I live?" she exclaimed, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to the door.

"I carried you home one night after a mission, remember?" Sakura lightly smacked her forehead at his response.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can just come in whenever you like! You know you're not supposed to come to my house - you know how my mother feels about ninja. I told you guys already." Sakura sounded cross, and somewhat tense.

"My apologies," Sai covered smoothly. "I'll remember that next time, hag." Sakura bristled slightly at the insult, but let it go as Sai opened his cloak and exposed his heavily bruised side.

"Sai!" Sakura whisper-hissed, hands emitting a green glow as she ran them up and down his torso. Sai closed his eyes at the feeling. Sakura’s chakra smoothed the pain over with a pleasant buzz. "You've got a small hairline fracture," she murmured, "just be careful on it for a day or two while it heals up, okay?"

"Yes, Ugly," came the emotionless reply. Sakura rolled her eyes and slipped her hands off his chest, heart pounding as she heard heavy steps come up the stairs.

"Shit!" Sakura hissed, raking a hand through her messy hair. She threw a wild glance behind her and pushed Sai towards the window, pushing him out. He fell but rolled and caught himself, just in time to hear Sakura's mother. She screeched her daughter's name, voice warbling with a drunken slur. Sakura quickly shut the window but wasn't fast enough. Sai stared up at the window in shock, horrified upon finding the reason why nobody was ever allowed at the Haruno household. He sat and listened to Sakura's mother's muffled screams and accusations, and waited til she stumbled back down the hall to depart. Sai felt Sakura knew he'd heard at least some of the violent exchange, and spent half the night staring at the ceiling and trying to decipher why anyone would want to do such a thing to his teammate. Sakura was sunny and cheerful, full of hope, intelligent, and beautiful. He couldn't see anything wrong with her. She was hard-working and apprentice to the Hokage herself. It troubled him long into the night, wondering how long Sakura had lived like this. He admired her strength and determination - he wasn't sure if he could ever have done it himself.

* * *

 

Sai cracked bleary eyes open to see Sakura leaning over him, a worried frown on her face and dark circles under her eyes. Sunlight was barely beginning to trickle in through his windows, lighting on the art hung up all over his room.

"Sai!" Sakura called, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Morning, hag." Sai’s voice was deep and groggy from sleep, slowly sitting up. The covers fell from his naked chest, exposing him to the chilly morning air. He nearly shivered, noting with a wry smile she'd slipped in through the still open window.

"We need to talk," Sakura said curtly, playing with her fingers nervously. She perched on the end of his bed, waiting for him to fully wake up she could have his full attention. "You can't tell  _anyone_  about what you saw last night.  _No one_ ," she stressed, a wild look in her eyes. "Please, Sai. Promise me."

"Nobody deserves to be treated like that, Sakura," Sai told her softly, dark eyes solemn. Sakura took a deep breath and looked away, swallowing thickly.

"Just - please, Sai. You can't. In a month, on my seventeenth birthday, I can move out. I've already found an apartment for cheap and have made the first payments. Just one more month and I'll be free of this forever." When Sai simply frowned disapprovingly at Sakura, she caught his hands and begged. "I've been keeping it from you guys because I don't want Naruto or Kakashi to worry. You know Naruto - he'll throw a big fit about it, and he's already stressed enough. Not to mention everyone else's lives as well. Can I trust you on this, Sai?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked in response, not giving her a reply.

"I - there was never a time appropriate enough. Think about it, Sai. We've been through so much - I've been through so much the past years, and there's just been so much going on I never thought it was important."

"Never thought it was important? Look at you, Sakura." Sai's response was scathing, and Sakura jerked her head up to meet him, eyes wide. It was one of the first times she'd heard so much emotion in his voice. "She's been mistreating you for years. Naruto and Kakashi would've certainly helped out, you could've lived with any of them, or me-"

"Life's a lot more complicated than that, Sai," Sakura smiled wryly. The look in her eyes was tender now. "I know you guys would, and I really appreciate that. But my mother is my legal guardian, and she has to agree to give me off. And why would she? This would make her the laughing stock of the public. No way in hell is she ever going to admit she verbally abuses me. It would get her in trouble with the law, and it would've caused a lot more trouble than it's worth. I would've had to stay back from missions to deal with court, and she's still my mother. Even if she's an alcoholic and has done all these terrible things to me." Sai sighed and looked away, mulling over possible decisions. She waited with bated breath, anxious for his answer. Sai turned his head towards her and sighed.

"Alright, Sakura. I promise, but only because I trust you to make your own decisions. Once you're out of the house, if she ever bothers you again - I'm going to tell Tsunade. You can't let her do this to you, Sakura. You deserve much better than that. If you're not out of the house within a month I won't keep it a secret any longer."

"Thank you, Sai!" Sakura looked so relieved Sai’s heart tugged. She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a grateful hug. "Thank you so, so much," she whispered.          "You're a great friend," Sakura told him as she got off the bed, giving him a small, hopeful smile. "Thank you," she said again, and prepared to dash off.

"Stay," Sai commanded. "For breakfast, at least. So you don't have to go home." Her smile was brilliant and rivaled Naruto's grin, and she flushed with gratitude.

"I really appreciate it, Sai. I know you don't agree, but thank you for trusting me and respecting my decision. It means a lot to me." Sai nodded in response, moving across the kitchen to fetch Sakura something to eat. She dug in, and he propped his feet up on one of the chairs and settled down with a sketchpad, drawing her, serene and beautiful in his kitchen.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eiko: "long-lived child"
> 
> Hiroki: "abundant joy; strength"
> 
> Akasuna no Sasori: Sasori of the Red Sands

Sakura set her hands on her hips and let out a big, tired but delighted sigh, gazing around her new apartment. It was small and rather unwelcoming, but once she'd cleaned the windows and opened them up a bit and let the sun trickle through, she could tell it would transform soon enough. She let her gaze rest on the boxes she just lugged up the stairs, standing precariously in towering stacks. White puffs escaped her lips as she breathed out, shivering slightly in the cold air. The heater hadn't been used in years, the landlady had warned her. She flipped the thermostat and crossed her fingers, and was rewarded by the thrum of the heater clanking back to life. There was something eerily familiar about the apartment - she couldn't put a finger on it, but she surmised it had something to do with the fact that she'd rented it out abnormally cheap. Nobody had rented it out for years, the landlady had told her. Nobody wanted it. Well, that was perfectly alright with Sakura. She wasn't superstitious, and she wouldn't be home a lot anyway - so why not take a risk? She went around the house and flicked all the switches, testing to see if the lights worked. She gave an irritated huff as more than three light bulbs turned out to be duds, unscrewing them for her trip to the hardware store. She put them on the kitchen counter and hooked the door open, jogging down the stairs to fetch the rest of her belongings. Chakra-enhanced strength had her with piles of boxes stacked in either hand, walking up the railing for added challenge. A little boy and his mother gaped at her from next door, the kid's face shining as he stared at her in open-mouthed awe. She threw them a kind smile and set the boxes down, clipping her keys to her belt as she closed the door and turned to greet them, the lightbulbs in a plastic bag hanging from her wrist.

"My name's Haruno Sakura," she greeted warmly, "it's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Sakura-san. My name is Arakida Eiko, and this is Hiroki. He just started at the academy this year."

Sakura beamed at him and dropped into a crouch.

"Good afternoon, Hiroki! You better work hard if you want to be a shinobi," she grinned, standing up to ruffle his hair. "Let me know if you need help with anything, Eiko-san." The mother nodded and gave her a grateful smile.

"You bet, Miss Sakura!" the little boy crowed, staring at her kunai pouch with admiration. "Are you a kunoichi?"

"You bet I am! You know, I was once an academy student, just like you. Work hard and keep up with your studies, Hiroki-kun, and I'll see you around! If you ever need someone to babysit, Eiko-san, I'm here to help."

"Thank you," Eiko smiled, ushering her son back inside as Sakura turned to go.

"Sayonara!" Sakura called, leaping to the rooftops and smiling fondly at the excited, delighted look in the boy's eyes. The bulbs clinked together in her bag as she ran, smiling happily for the first time in a week. She wouldn't have to deal with her mother - and she wouldn't have to keep her life a secret from the boys any longer. It was a relief, and Sakura relished it. She tilted her head up towards the sky and drew in a long breath, a light smile on her lips.

* * *

 

Uchiha Sasuke rubbed tiredly at his eyes, careful to keep his touches light. Even after the transplant, they hurt frequently after each use and the strain put on his body after the operation was even greater than before. He cursed, slamming his fist into the wall, fury bubbling in his gut. He  _hated_  feeling like this - weak. His lip curled in a wrathful snarl, eyes cold and jaw rigid. He leaned against the wall in frustrated pain, resting his cool fingertips against his eyelids. He gritted his teeth against the blinding pain, resisting the urge to cry out. Now that he no longer had the quasi-medic Karin with him, it was impossible to get any sort of medical attention - and he did not trust any random healer with his eyes. He could subdue Karin easily and trick her with the sharingan, but an unfamiliar healer was another matter. Sasuke would not trust them in the least. So he simply grit his teeth and bore the pain, trying to dispel the quiet nagging in the back of his mind that something had gone wrong.

His vision was flawless, even if he had to contend with the fact that these were his  _brother's_  eyes. Not his failing eyes, his brother's eyes. The eyes of a family member he'd murdered in cold blood. Tremors wracked through him and he let out a choked sob, sliding against the wall in misery. The roar of the waterfall echoed around him, pounding his stinging loneliness in with the sound of the rush of water around him. He thought of the remaining members of Team Taka - Suigetsu and Juugo. Suigetsu avoided him like the plague, approaching Sasuke somewhat resentfully every time they grouped together. He was mistrustful, but he had a right to be. Sasuke had nearly murdered Karin - and didn't regret a minute of it. She would still be dead on that battlefield if Sakura hadn't intervened and patched her up in a few short seconds. His brow furrowed as he considered the pink slip of a kunoichi - she had definitely changed from that weakling, simpering fangirl - although her feelings for him hadn't changed one bit. Sasuke was arrogant, but he was not a fool, and knew her powers were a force to be reckoned with. Her healing abilities were phenomenal; Kabuto was a brilliant medic, yet he struggled for more than ten minutes on something that Sakura could heal with the sweep of a hand. He saw that stitching Karin's heart fibers and veins back together had been no problem for Sakura, simultaneously closing up the wound in her chest as Karin bled out. Her healing capabilities were certainly impressive, but she had little else. He had not seen her fight in battle, and when she tried to kill him she just couldn't follow through - couldn't even harm one hair on her precious Sasuke-kun's head. He sneered in contempt at the memory, replaying her shaking kunai and the horrified, tormented look in her eyes when he came at her with his chidori. He chalked off the unsettling feeling in his stomach as a side-effect of the transplant, not even once pondering if the thing he was feeling was remorse instead of an unbalance in his system.

He shucked off his shirt and pants, slipping his boxers off as he went to stand under the roaring waterfall, tilting his head forward as the relentless water beat down on his head and shoulders, running in swift rivulets down his impressive figure. He winced as he stretched and moved his shoulders - his back was tight, but there was nothing he could do about that. The muscle stretched tightly and not in a comfortable way; he suspected one of his scars had healed wrong. His body was littered with them - from little nicks and cuts from long slashes crossed and slanted over his shoulder blades and chest, peppering his arms and several on his hip bone and stomach. As he stood under the pounding roar of the waterfall, he contemplated on Sakura's scars. He surmised he was going delirious from the transplant - his skin did feel rather feverish, but he paid that no attention. Had he been in a saner mindset he would've cursed himself and sneered at the fact he was thinking about his old teammates. He thought of Naruto's scars, too. There had been a new one in the hollow of his neck, recently healed, long gashes streaking down his arms and x's on his thumbs. Sakura, once all delicate hands and so worrisome about scars - she had her fair share of them, too, though noticeably less than himself and Naruto. He half-heartedly sneered at that, not knowing that a medic's most important priority was defense on a team. Although, when she'd arced into the air to avoid a slash from the kusanagi, he'd seen her red shirt ride up and expose her lightly tanned belly, displaying a fierce scar slanted across her stomach. It looked like an old but fairly grievous wound, and as her kunai flashed and trembled in her hands he'd seen the inside of a forearm and the back of her hand slashed and slightly puckered - from a close range fight with foreign shinobi, but he didn't know that. He wondered at the long scar on her stomach, not even once stopping to contemplate if it ran all the way through. She wouldn't have survived a impalement like that, he thought. He knew enough of anatomy to know there was a vital organ there, and that a stab wound would have been fatal, even if she was an accomplished medic. He didn't know where all her new scars were; a tiny line bisecting her eyebrow like Kakashi's, the hair that was previously there missing. It didn't extend to her eyelid, however. There was a tiny nick on the side of her neck, and another on her shoulder right next to the base of her neck. As the water slowly lulled him back to his senses, he jerked away from his thoughts as if he'd been burned, and immediately sneered at himself with derision. He didn't miss any of them, and had been serious when he'd tried to kill all three. However... those tattered bonds were something he just couldn't shake off. They'd been cut and slammed and torn, but they seemed indestructible. No matter how much he tried to sever them completely, they were resolute and refused to unravel all the way. He refused to dwell on the matter any longer, stepping away from the waterfall. He stood to air-dry, closing his eyes and focusing on nothing. For the first time in a long while, Sasuke drifted into peace.

* * *

 

Sakura collapsed on her couch, arms covered with dust, blowing a strand of coral away from her face. The lock of hair fluttered and then settled back on her face, and with a huff of irritation she brought grime-streaked fingers to tuck the errant piece behind her ear. The apartment was filthy. She gazed around the room, knowing she had a lot of work to do. The boxes were piled high against the other wall of her new living room, the rest of the apartment sparse and empty. She allowed herself a moment's respite before flicking on all the lights in the bathroom, lugging a bucket full of soapy water and several sponges to the tiled floor. She tugged on elbow-length bright yellow gloves, settling right to work. Her head whipped around as the front door opened and familiar steps traversed through her new home. She turned her head back to her work as the person came to a stop in the doorway of her bathroom.

"Hello, Sai," she called to him, scrubbing particularly hard at the tiles right next to the bathtub.

"Ugly," he greeted. "Your front door is unlocked, you know." His voice turned surly and disapproving, and she smiled, cheeks flush with happiness. She turned her head to roll her eyes at him.

"Relax, Sai," she laughed, "I sensed you coming up the apartment stairwell way before you came to my front door... and besides, I'm not totally unguarded." His dark eyes traveled past her tank-top clad torso to the spandex shorts, and past them to her kunai pouch wrapped around her thigh.

"You never know what pervert could walk through that door," he continued very seriously, and she snorted derisively.

"I'm touched you care about me, Sai, but I'm not  _that_  helpless, you know."

"I didn't say you were helpless, far from it, but - "

"I get it, Sai," Sakura laughed, eyes twinkling with delight. "And thank you. But I can take care of myself. I bought this apartment, didn't I? I defeated Akasuna no Sasori, didn't I? I'm more than sure I could take care of a petty villager or two." Sai sighed and dropped the topic, opening the top of his shoulder-bag. He withdrew a large frame; the sketch of her from a month's past, sitting at his kitchen table. He'd colored it in and framed the piece, deciding to give it to her as a house-warming gift. He'd read those were a polite thing to give to those who were moving. "Oh, Sai - it's beautiful!" Sakura took the frame and cradled it in her hands, holding it out at arm's length to admire. She grinned at him and kissed him softly on the cheek, dashing into her living room to hang it up above her couch. She smiled fondly at the drawing, stepping back to admire it once more. "Thank you, Sai," she smiled. "I love it."

"You're welcome, hag," he responded, but his tone was warm. "After Naruto is done finishing up his report with Tsunade-sama, he should be coming up shortly - " but he never got to finish as said blond swung in through the window, yelling Sakura's name with delight. He swept her up into his sunny embrace, whirling her around with a big whoop. Sakura laughed from the circle of his arms, breaking away to swat him and tease him gently.

"What if Hinata saw that? She'd think you were in love with me instead of her!" At this, Naruto turned a violent shade of white, stammering.

"You - you really think so? And don't say that out loud! She might hear you!" Sakura laughed out loud at the fear on his face, throwing a pack of gloves at the pair of them. She rolled her eyes. Naruto was so naive. Hinata had been head-over-heels for him since their academy days, and to hear Naruto say he loved her would be a dream come true.

"No, stupid. Now both of you, help me clean. I am not sleeping in a dusty apartment tonight." She watched Naruto form a bunch of clones, all rushing around the house with various cleaning supplies. "And do a good job!" she hollered after the dozen clones. "Don't you dare half-ass it! I'll clean the kitchen. Naruto, you're in charge of the bathroom. Sai, can you please start in my bedroom?"

A good four hours later, all three of them collapsed on the couch, spent. Naruto's stomach rumbled, leaning his head against the back of the couch, thoroughly exhausted. The toll of twelve clones plus himself was taxing even with his strength, and he felt as if his bones were made of jelly.

"Say, Sakura," Naruto mumbled. "You never did say where you got this couch... it's really comfortable."

"It's Kakashi-sensei's, silly. He gave it to me and said he needed a new one anyway."

At this Naruto grumped, mouth forming a frown. "It's only because you're his favorite," he pouted. "No one in their right mind would give up such a comfortable couch like this... He's never given  _me_  anything." Sai chose this moment to pipe in, a fake smile on his lips.

"It is because you are not female, Naruto," the stoic boy informed him pleasantly, gasping a second later and rubbing his head in surprise and pain as his face met the floor. Naruto immediately turned to Sakura as the culprit, but found her with her hand raised, ready to give the poor boy a good sound whack. But she wasn't looking at Sai - he followed her eyes to see Kakashi himself with his Icha Icha Tactics held out, lone eye narrowed in irritation. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," his only female student beamed, and their sensei took Sai's place on the couch.

"...is it true?" Naruto whispered, but as the words left his mouth he realized his grave mistake. He braced for the oncoming pain, blinking up from the floor at Sakura's fist and nursing a new bruise on the back of his head. "Ow, Sakura-chan... so ungrateful... especially after we cleaned this whole apartment for you." At this Sakura softened, standing and moving to her new kitchen.

"I guess that's true. Come on, I'll make us all ramen." Sakura was halfway across the room before Naruto was settled down at her kitchen counter, plopped right in the middle. Sakura laughed and laughed, grinning at her three boys as the other two soon joined their teammates beside the blond. She stared at them with something like adoration, thanking Kakashi as he got up to help her. When she sat down with them, Naruto slurping loudly and spilling broth all over the sides of his bowl, she couldn't help but feel almost complete. She gave one glance to the final, unoccupied stool - and wished not for the first time that Sasuke was there beside them, commenting snidely on Naruto's disgusting eating habits and calling him a dobe. But Sakura was strong, and she told herself that it wouldn't be long before he was right there beside them - beside her, perhaps. She caught Kakashi's searching look and smiled genuinely in response, closing her eyes at the wonderful taste in her mouth and the companionship of her closest friends.

* * *

 

In the morning, Sakura ruffled the blond boy's hair, pocketing her pager and throwing her lunch in her purse as she prepared to walk out. She'd lifted Naruto from the floor to the couch as soon as she had woken, smiling as he snored loudly. Sai and Kakashi had both gone home, but Naruto had stared at her with pleading eyes and she understood. They were lonely and broken, and she knew all too well. So she let him stay, comforted by his presence as he was with hers, both of them trying to forget their sadness and missing parts of their hearts. But Sasuke wasn't going to be gone indefinitely, they both had reassured each other. They would bring him back, together. And with a small smile Sakura let herself out, pocketing her keys and flying across the rooftops to the hospital.

Naruto woke a few short hours later, rubbing his hands across his face as he yawned. He found himself on the couch, smiling affectionately at the thought of Sakura picking him up and placing him on the couch. He swung his legs over the side of the couch to use her shower, making a face at the small line of girly products on the handrail. He rifled through some of her boxes and found some old clothes of his, and put them on before he left to drop by Ino's flower shop. He smiled at the blonde and picked up a flower, staring at Ino in surprise when she told him to just take it, a large grin on her lips.

"You guys are so  _cute_ ," Ino gushed, and Naruto crowed his signature phrase in response before exiting the store.

"Believe it, dattebayo!"

Naruto found Hinata exiting the training grounds and tucked the flower behind her ear in greeting, and smiled as her cheeks flushed. She really was quite pretty when she smiled, he thought, and asked if he could take her out to lunch. He delighted in her soft-spoken yes, and whisked her down the street, hand clasped around hers. Sasuke was soon forgotten as Naruto took Hinata on a date, and as Sakura patched up broken bones and performed physicals, the dark, brooding boy folding back into the recesses of their hearts. But as they both went alone to bed - she on her couch - their dreams were full of heartbreak, lightning, and eyes darker than the night.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kenta: "healthy/strong"

 Sakura somersaulted over her target, daggers ablaze in a warrior's fury. She slashed at him as she tumbled overhead, but he parried, and they shot sparks through the night. Metal clashed over and over again, ringing out through the trees. Sakura panted, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. An adrenaline-filled smile spread slowly on her face, and she grinned with the challenge.

"I kind of need you alive," she admitted, rolling a shoulder as she dove around him, flicking shadow shuriken his way. He dodged, but didn't catch the second set masked by the first. He grunted in pain and ripped them out of his right arm. Sakura raised an eyebrow; "That was incredibly stupid of you." He didn't deign to answer, and she simply shrugged, dancing around him in a blaze of metal, left and right, from the front and behind. He blocked nearly all of them, dark eyes on fire as they met hers. She shuddered with the memory, tangled up in eyes darker than his, the color of oil spills. The spell was broken as he caught her unguarded, leaving her with a thin slice across her stomach. She'd dodged nearly just in time, catching the serrated blade on her skin. She hissed in pain, kicking away from him and passing a glowing hand across the front of her belly. "For such an excellent fighter, you sure do have a lot of flaws," she pointed out.

"Are you normally this talkative?" His voice was deep and gruff, and nothing like the smooth, baritone tone Sakura knew. She shook her head and blinked away the daze, angry with herself. This man wasn't Sasuke, she reminded herself - just similar. Sakura ignored him and smiled underneath her mask, not that he could see it.

"You do know that using a serrated blade could become potentially fatal in battle? Imagine yourself, surrounded by five of me - you would stand no chance. In time that it would take to pull that serrated sword out of bone and flesh - especially a fatal rib-cage hit, you'd be dead." Sakura sent three kunai whistling his way; he dodged them all. But she could see that his arm was giving him some trouble - he was no medic nin. The battle was slowly turning in her favor, she saw, as she slashed and parried and lunged and flew. And finally, as the rain began to pour and as thunder started to boom overhead, she caught and twisted his arms behind him and brought him to his knees. "I win," she whispered in his ear, grinning with exhilaration. When they finally stood, both drenched and soaked to the bone, he bound by chakra manacles on his wrist, he followed her through the undergrowth. His chakra was leeched away into the cuffs, and he gave a sigh of irritation as he brought up both hands to brush back his dark hair. Sakura found a little cave buried in the side of the mountain where they could take respite from the violent storm, tucking their backs to the wall as the wind howled outside. Sakura lit a fire and slipped out of her soaked vest, laying it behind her. She ran her hands through drenched rosette locks turned crimson by the water. They warmed by the fire in silence for a while before curiosity got the better of her. She left the wooden mask on, surveying her captive with bright eyes. "What's your name?"

"Kenta," he said, dark eyes unreadable and trying to fix on hers through the slits in her mask. "You?"

"Sakura," she said wryly, and thought she saw a sliver of an amused smile.

"So, are you always this friendly with your prisoners?" Kenta asked, and Sakura snorted.

"No, just bored." She grabbed the mission scroll and unfurled it, perusing the contents with narrowed eyes. "So, Kenta - do you happen to know why my village wants you badly to warrant an S-Class mission just for you, and alive? I've never heard of you before, and that says a lot for someone in my position." She wasn't being boastful or arrogant; it was simply fact. She scrutinized his outfit, trying to pick out details that would pinpoint toward a particular affiliation, but found none. She noticed as his hair dried it was wavy, and his features were more rugged than she'd thought.

"Well... I'm rogue..." he said, and that was all the information he was willing to part with. Sakura didn't blame him.

"You're a great fighter," she complimented, "a village could certainly benefit from a Shinobi like you. Why make your life harder?" Kenta took a long moment before he deigned to answer, staring at her with dark, unreadable eyes. Sakura did not waver, did not flinch or recoil - she stared right back, challenging and strong. Kenta was secretly impressed, and for this he decided to answer.

"The village I came from... it wasn't the best." Sakura nodded, satisfied with his answer. She knew that he could have been lying, but the answer was good enough for now. He did not have to elaborate. Sakura had seen the conditions of the Village of the Mist, she had seen their people starving and dying on the streets, shinobi foul and cold. She had a hunch that he was from the Mist, and remembered Zabuza's tale.

"You seem awfully complacent about being captured by an enemy village," Sakura mused, bright eyes roving over his form. "Unless, of course, the Council is seeking out a deal or a bargain from you. It wouldn't surprise me. Those fickle bastards have yet to scrape any lower." Kenta raised an eyebrow at the hostility directed at the leaders of her own village. Sakura sensed his slight bemusement and gave him a wicked smile, eyes glittering and crinkling at the corners.

"The only leader I follow is the Hokage of this village, and those who operate under orders. The network of shinobi under the council are... untrustworthy. I advise you to be cautious when dealing with them. Although they're old crones, they're very meticulous and clever at loopholes and planning. They, after all, have nothing better to do with their filthy, traitorous lives. Everything they do is for the benefit of themselves, none for the village nor the shinobi. They will use you until you have nothing left to offer, and then they will kill you without fulfilling their end of the bargain." Sakura shot the man a cold smile, contempt glimmering in her eyes. Kenta eyed her for several heartbeats, and he, too, spilled his secrets.

"I have information on Uchiha Sasuke." Kenta didn't expect the woman across from him to freeze, body locked ramrod straight, fists clenching in her lap. Sakura threw her head back and laughed, harsh and cold.

"Clever," she remarked coolly, and Kenta studied her, trying to figure out what connection this woman had to the Uchiha, and why she'd reacted so at his divulgence of information. She grinned at him, terrible and wicked. "The Council is trying to get to Sasuke before we do," she mused with deceptive calm, locking fearsome eyes with the shinobi. "Well played... but not good enough. They are trying to kill him before we get to him, before we do something they don't like. They don't know what we have, but they know it's nothing good. They blatantly disobeyed the negotiation." Sakura smirked. What the Council didn't know about was the final sealing jutsu placed upon the scroll containing the details of Itachi's last mission and the vow of silence taken by herself, Naruto, Kakashi, and the Hokage. The minute the Council went back on their word, the sealing jutsu would activate and destroy the jutsu placed on all four bodies. They would then be free to inform the people about the truth of the Uchiha Massacre. Tsunade had been wise in dealing with the Council - they could not be trusted. They were warped and full of selfish, twisted ambitions. Sakura, Tsunade, and Shizune were secretly working to bring down the whole order; they had been for a while. Certain shinobi were privy to the plot, but very few. Kakashi, of course, and a few select ANBU - not to mention the Nara Elders. They were the most cool-headed of all the clans, and their main weapon was battle tactics. "So, what do you know about Uchiha Sasuke?" she questioned, pushing the mask aside and off her face. She stared at him, and Kenta was taken aback by her fierce beauty. She stared him down, a tigress hunting her prey, gaze full of fiery determination. He held his mouth closed, however - what if she decided to slit his throat once he parted with the information? Sensing his hesitation, Sakura exasperatedly rolled her eyes. "If I was going to interrogate and then kill you for information, I would've done it already." She paused to let the words sink in, leaning forward, posture predatory. "Of all people, besides Naruto, I deserve to hear this firsthand, before the Council. Uchiha Sasuke is my ex-teammate, my friend, and the man I'm in love with." She challenged him, and Kenta saw the resilience glittering in her eyes. He saw in her eyes the fury of a woman scorned, coupled with a love so fierce and deep, so full of desperation and devotion it shook him to the very core.

"I have information on his whereabouts," was all Kenta was willing to say, and he didn't miss the way her eyes sparked and caught on fire, fury thrumming in her veins. Sakura nodded, pressing her lips together firmly as she restrained herself from grilling the man. Her heartbeat raced and thundered in her chest, and she forced herself to stay still, forced herself to stay in the cave and not search for the man who'd stolen her heart.

"I see," Sakura mused, calming herself down. Even if she did find out where he was, she probably wouldn't be able to get there and not be exhausted once she did, and if she lost the battle and his trail, there was no one else left to tell her where he was staying. She ran through it rationally, and though disappointment roiled heavy in her gut she knew she'd made the right decision. Sakura snapped into action once she was sufficiently in control, summoning a small piece of Katsuyu to run a message to Tsunade.

* * *

 

Hinata, hand-in-hand with Naruto, trying not to blush - watched as his eyes brightened considerably with excitement, his hand slipping from hers as he took off like a shot, joy painted on his face loud and clear. She giggled softly at the sight, watching her boyfriend as he raced off to greet his bedraggled and tired teammate, picking her up with a big whoop and twirling her around in a circle, and laughed when the girl promptly whacked him on the head. Hinata tried not to be jealous of Sakura - she felt disgusted with herself when she did, but she couldn't help it. She knew that Sakura had no such intentions of stealing Naruto away, but Hinata sometimes Naruto would look at her the way he looked at Sakura. Hinata knew she wasn't being fair to herself; Naruto and Sakura had been through it all. They'd been close for  _years_ , had saved each other's lives more than they could count, had lost Sasuke together, had leant on each other for strength and support - and she knew they considered each other family. They were joined at the hip, nearly inseparable. It would take some time before Naruto was as attached to Hinata as he was to Sakura, and she knew it. So she smiled, glad that Sakura made Naruto happy, and waited on the sidelines. She roved curious eyes over the shackled man behind the pink-haired kunoichi, wondering who he was. She was still in the midst of pondering when Naruto vaulted back to her side, apologizing profusely for just abandoning her like that. Hinata only smiled at his selfless nature and pecked him on the cheek, telling him she hadn't been offended in the least. She delighted in the faint blush that rose to her boyfriend's cheeks as their hands reunited, and all four of them made their way to the Hokage tower. Hinata wondered why she and Naruto were going, until she caught the exchanged looks between the two members of Team 7. Something was up, and it had to do with the prisoner Sakura brought back with her.

Naruto barged into the office first, dragging his bright-faced girlfriend along with him, who immediately apologized and bowed for his rude behavior. Sakura followed, less excitedly, and the prisoner trailed in behind her.

"Mission complete, Tsunade-sama."

"Excellent, Sakura... now why are you here, brat?" The latter part was thrown at Naruto, who straightened up in attention before plopping himself into one of the chairs in front of her desk, making it clear that he was there to stay. Tsunade stared with disapproval at the jinchuuriki, before heaving a sigh and turning to Sakura.

"I have information that I feel Naruto deserves to hear, as well," Sakura said, moving her mask to the side of her head, performing a quick sound-barrier jutsu around the room, "it's about something the Council hasn't told us. They were either stupid enough to give me this mission, or I was lucky enough to snag it. The Council didn't inform us of the details of why we needed this man back alive - or why it was S-Class." Tsunade adjusted herself in her chair and nodded, preparing for a long story. "This man, Kenta, has information on the whereabouts of the missing nin Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto jerked in surprise, blue eyes wide as he stared at her. Sakura could barely contain her excitement as well, but she shot him a quelling look. Hinata once again felt out of the loop, standing behind Naruto, excluded. Her heart hurt to see the barely controlled desperation and pure dedication that was mirrored on both their faces, Kenta caught uncomfortably in the middle. "This, of course, would explain why it was S-Class - but their intentions are not honorable. They did not inform you, or we would have already known about it. My assumptions are that they were planning to find him, hire a mercenary or send in a member of Root to finish him off and claim he died after he aggravated battle. I'm not saying that this is true, far from it - but it's a hunch I have."

Naruto fell in an unusual silence, abnormally contemplative. Tsunade leaned back, hands crossing over her mouth, thinking deeply. She hastily wrote a roll of orders and rolled it up, thinking hard.

"I feel... I feel as if you are right, Sakura. I'm glad you picked up this mission, even if by accident. We will report to the Council that the mission was a success, but we will submit him to Ibiki instead of handing him off to the Council instead. If you do not cooperate with the interrogation, Kenta, Ibiki will be forced to torture you. I suggest you go with the former. Sakura, escort him personally to Ibiki and give him this scroll. Naruto will go with you, and both of you report back here after it is finished so we can discuss this more openly. Hinata, please find Nara Shikaku and tell him to report to my office immediately. Dismissed!" Naruto and Sakura leapt to their feet, glad to have something to do. They marched out of the office with Kenta, Hinata slipping out behind them and racing down the rooftops to find the leader of the Nara clan.

* * *

 

Adjusting to life in Konohagakure was both a relief and equally frustrating for Karin. It was a hard switch; she was at the opposite of two extremes. Growing up with Orochimaru, most of her time was spent underground, trying to please her master, trying to gain recognition from him and learning not to trust anyone who passed by in the corridors. In Sound, everyone was a filthy rat, full of greed and lust and anger. Everyone was tough and hard, with little to no mercy. Life in Sound and abroad was the only life Karin new, not this strange, alien society where people were polite to one another and stealing didn't go unnoticed. She had to stop herself from catching hard onto wrists that innocently, accidentally brushed against her money pocket, had to force herself not to sneer at everyone and actually be polite. All her life, it had been a constant power struggle. Here, everyone were equals. Adapting was tough. Even though Sakura had saved her life, she and Naruto had stayed as far away from her as they possibly could. At first, Karin had been scornful and angry, but as time passed she came to realize that they avoided her not because they thought little of her or detested her - but because they were hurting and she made it worse. She realized that they felt second-best to her, relationship-wise, with their ex-teammate, and seeing her reminded them that they were not good enough. Ino had brought her to this realization in the cells, defending both of them to the very last.

Loyalty was another thing Karin wasn't used to seeing. In Sound, almost everyone was a backstabber, thinking only of themselves and their own safety. Here, people watched out for each other's backs, and she wasn't used to it. Ino defended the two members of Team 7 as if they were family, as if they were a part of her. Karin half admired it and was half terrified of it. She didn't belong here, she knew. She thought back and reminisced.

After a couple of months passed, Naruto and Sakura stopped by her tiny apartment, latched firmly onto each other as if they were both drowning and they were both each other's lifeboats. She lived in a rundown, government-provided apartment with tiny, cramped rooms, but it was still a place to live. She invited them in, ruby whorls dark and on guard. She waited in uncomfortable silence as they all sat down at her dining table. Naruto's and Sakura's hands were still tightly linked, gripping each other for support.

"We want to talk to you about Sasuke," they both said in unison, stealing a glance at each other in surprise before this lent them strength, gathering courage as they went on. It was here that Karin finally understood - they loved Sasuke more than she ever could, and she could see it written in their eyes. They apologized for avoiding her, but Karin already knew and understood, thanks to Ino. Resentment did not accompany the myriad of emotions she felt when she looked upon them any longer, and for that she was grateful. She spilled everything she knew about Sasuke, from his current techniques to the troubles with his eyes, to all the places they had gone and traveled together. She tried to keep it as un-damaging as possible, but she knew they were stinging and burning with hurt and confusion. Karin hoped that they would be enough to bring the rogue shinobi home, for if they weren't - she didn't know what could, save death.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The one to appear before him is Sakura. She confesses to him as he tries to leave without looking behind him. She confesses with a blindingly uncompromising mind that does not want to lose him. The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura. But he cannot let her in. He leaves with just one word of thanks." - Databook 2
> 
> "Sasuke, who only had power for revenge, becomes stronger because of his companions. His true place would have been a future among them." - Databook 2

Sasuke woke up gasping, eyes wide and filled with shock. His feet hit the floor and he struggled to reign in his breathing, hunching over the side of the bed, dropping his head into his hands. The vivid dream burned brightly in his mind. For the first time in a while - at least consciously - he had dreamt of Sakura. Sakura alone. All the dreams he had of Konoha were always centered around Team 7, and revolved around them equally... but this one was all about Sakura. Irritation filled him at the thought of dreaming about her, at the signs of becoming weak, and he refused to admit that she had once touched his heart.

But he couldn't stop thinking about the dream. It was intense and completely different from any other dream he'd ever had about her. He dreamt of her in the hospital, gloved hands bloody and scrubs spattered with it, hair tied up out of her face and intense concentration shone from her eyes, and for the first time she was not pleading with him or interacting with him, or crying his name behind him as he left Konoha. For the first time, he was viewing her from a third-person point of view. She worked tirelessly, trying to fix the young shinobi before he passed into the void. She set bones and stitched tissue and vessels together, but his heartbeat was falling fast. Sakura closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, eyes widening as she felt his heart falter beneath her hands. She pumped chakra into it desperately, shouting orders,  _something_  - but he suddenly flatlined and she stood motionless, despair cloaking her in its feathery wings. It almost hurt to look at her. But then she snapped into action, and Sasuke saw hope revive itself and shine brightly in her eyes, and for the first time he was awestruck by Sakura. She surged up and straddled the shinobi's chest, careful to keep her weight off of him as she shot a spike of electrical chakra straight into his heart, and the boy jerked with the electrical assault. To Sakura's horror, he didn't respond. She climbed off the table after five tries and turned away from her colleagues, fighting the tears that were welling up. And then they receded, she turned around, gave brisk orders, and got right on the job. Sasuke marveled at her strength, for once caught up in the dream. His fascination centered around his ex-teammate, and he watched as she walked home, a ghostly spectator beside her. He saw the tenseness in her posture, the balled up fists at her side, and as she finally let herself in to her apartment he watched as she collapsed against the door and sunk down in grief. Sobs wracked her frame and she curled her knees close to her chest, turning to lean sideways against the door, inconsolable. Sasuke's heart wrenched as he watched her, and she suddenly turned green, green eyes on him - and they were so intense and full of deep sorrow and anguish that he was wrenched into reality.

Sasuke sat up fast, breathing hard, eyes adjusting to the complete darkness he was engulfed in. Emotional distress flicked his sharingan on without realization, and once he assessed he was in no danger he slumped back onto his elbows, thinking hard. The dream still had him in its clutches, her burning gaze searing into his mind. He would never forget the way she looked at him, no matter if it was a dream or not. He had never seen her look so alive. He slowly put down the kusanagi he'd instinctively grabbed, red eyes bleeding black. Sasuke let out a rush of air, unaware he'd been holding his breath. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but snapped them open a minute later with his heart still hammering in his chest. He wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night. He sat back up and gazed around the dark room, flitting over the shuttered window before resting on the spartanly furnished room. The innkeeper had been reluctant to let him rent.

"We don't accept  _your_  kind here," she'd sniped, but one quelling glance and the hand on the hilt of his sword convinced the elderly woman otherwise. "Shinobi are bad for business," she hissed after him, but Sasuke paid her no heed. He moved silently into the bathroom, relieving himself and flicking the light on. He washed his hands and splashed his face with cold water, staring at himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and he stared at the dark circles beneath his eyes. With a snarl he flicked the light off, refusing to stare another moment at his  _brother's_  eyes. They looked exactly the same, to Sasuke. There wasn't any trace of Itachi left in them. He'd been both relieved and upset to find that the eyes resembled Itachi in no way at all. The shape of their eyes had been different, but that didn't translate to the actual eyeball. He was still shocked by how sharp his vision was after turning the sharingan off; he'd been legally blind for so long it actually gave him headaches from the perfect vision. He found himself examining every object intensely, captivated by how crystal clear each thing appeared. Sasuke strapped his blade to his waist, deciding it was time to start practicing without the sharingan. Before, not using his bloodline limit was fatal, ridiculous - he couldn't even train practicing. His sight had been so poor that he could not make out faces up close, just heavily blurred shapes and slashes of color. He hadn't had the time to efficiently train without his sight, and was so used to relying on the sharingan. He had to learn how to read opponent's moves without the use of sharingan telling him what exact technique the enemy was about to use beforehand. He slipped quietly out of the inn and headed deep into the forest, carving targets into trees and jumping straight up into the air, eyes closed. His mind flew through calculations and he let each kunai fly, the exact same way his brother used to train. He opened his eyes when he landed. He'd hit every single target, but pleasure did not reach him now. All he felt was emptiness.

* * *

In Konoha, Tsunade was shooting out orders like no tomorrow. She barked at Sakura, who nodded jerkily and slipped out the window, racing across the rooftops to inform Hyuuga Hiashi, Akimichi Chouza, Yamanaka Inoichi, Aburame Shibi, and Inuzuka Tsume. She reached Yamanaka Inoichi last, skidding into the clan courtyard. She bent over to catch her breath for a few brief seconds, trying to calm her racing heart. Sakura straightened up and knocked sharply on the door, saluting once Inoichi answered the door.

"Sakura!" Inoichi exclaimed in surprise, "You know you don't have to do that! We're like family, remember?" Sakura smiled warmly in response, but the grin dropped from her lips as she presented the scroll.

"My apologies, Inoichi-san, but it's official business. Tsunade is having a clan meeting, all the clans are to meet at her office now. I can't say anymore until we get there." At this, Inoichi's face turned from pleasant to grim. He gave her a curt nod.

"Let me just inform my wife." Sakura nodded and turned to face the street, head turning to catch the clan head's eye as he closed the door behind them. "Official business, huh?"

"Yeah," Sakura sighed. They both knew that lingering on the topic would open chances to the hungry ears all around, and although Inoichi was burning with curiosity, he kept his mouth shut and eyed his daughter's best friend. She looked frazzled, exhausted, and stressed. Whatever was going on had to be of the utmost importance; the Hokage did not simply summon all the heads immediately on a whim or a small matter.

"So, Sakura... is there anyone interested in Ino that I should know about?" he questioned, blue eyes narrowed. Sakura laughed, grateful joy on her face.

"None that I know of. Shikamaru is currently dating Temari," Sakura provided. At this, Inoichi slumped in relief. Sakura hid her amused giggle. "Even if that boy is Nara Shikaku's son, and a good kid to boot... he's still a boy," Inoichi growled. Sakura smiled, and not for the first time, wished she had a father of her own to try and protect her. But Inoichi was her father, as far as she was concerned. He had thrown joint birthday parties for Ino and Sakura in the middle of their birthdays, and had even taken Sakura out with Ino on their real birthdays. He was a good man; her surrogate father. They ascended the spiraling stairs and burst into the Hokage office, where a solemn line of clansmen stood. Sakura strode across the room to join Shizune while Inoichi filed in line between Chouza and Shikaku. Shikaku had organized the whole thing, and the real meeting was to be held underground, deep in one of the Nara's secret rooms, hidden underneath the Nara compound.

"We've organized a mass teleportation jutsu. Everyone, would you please join hands." Shizune and Sakura muttered the jutsu between the two of them and in a flash of light, they had all been transported to one of the meeting rooms. Sakura immediately began setting up chakra barriers, focusing on sound-proofing while Shizune worked on detection. Once they were satisfied the barriers would hold, they returned to their proper places beside their former mentor.

"Clansmen and clanswomen of Konoha, I bring you grave news. The Council has gone behind our backs, as Haruno Sakura discovered several weeks ago. We meant to hold this meeting far earlier, but we needed to confirm this conspiracy and work out a date and time. Only myself, Sakura, Shizune and Nara Shikaku knew of this information prior to this meeting, for obvious reasons. Nara Shikaku is our top analyst and strategist, thus we presented our discovery to him. He organized this meeting today. Please sit, everyone." The small group sunk into their chairs, confusion rippling through them. Sakura stepped forward, chin held high.

"Several weeks ago, the Council assigned me to a mission. It was a simple, S-Class retrieval mission, the target was to be brought back alive. While this is normal for most ANBU missions, other details caught my eye. It was of utmost importance that he brought back alive, and I was to guard him with my life. Again, slightly suspicious but nothing worry about. This shinobi was rogue. He was in the Council's bingo book, and his home country sought termination. The prisoner did not attempt escape, in fact, he seemed totally complacent. I had a gut feeling that there was more going on behind the scenes. I approached the prisoner and asked him if the Council was seeking to strike a bargain with him. He willingly divulged to me that he held information on Uchiha Sasuke." The room gasped, but fell silent under Tsunade's quelling glare. Sakura still had more to tell. "The Council got extremely unlucky that this mission had fallen into my hands, by random. We would have never known of this conspiracy until it was too late otherwise. If I had not acted on a hunch, there is a possibility this may have gone unnoticed. The Council is trying to get to Sasuke before we do. The Council has been planning to execute Uchiha Sasuke, defying the negotiation. None besides Tsunade-sama, Uzumaki Naruto, Shizune, Morino Ibiki, Nara Shikaku, and Hatake Kakashi knew of this secret negotiation between us and the Council. But since they have broken the rules of the contract, they have broken the seal placed upon all our tongues. The top-secret, highly classified information is now ours to share. The reason Tsunade-sama is pushing so hard for the reinstation and rehabilitation of Uchiha Sasuke as a Konoha shinobi is not based upon favoritism or because Naruto and I have convinced her otherwise, nor is it because he is the last Uchiha and the clan deserves to prosper. The Council had not counted on us receiving the most highly-guarded of secrets. This secret spans back in time, back to when all your children and myself were seven years old. The Uchiha Massacre. Uchiha Itachi is an innocent man. The Council conspired to bring the Uchiha clan down from the inside, secretly operated in part by Madara. They gave Uchiha Itachi his final mission. He was to annihilate the entire clan for the sake of the rest of Konoha - war between the Senjuu and Uchiha was inevitable. They ordered Itachi to maintain the peace. However, he failed in his final mission - he couldn't kill his little brother. He couldn't kill Uchiha Sasuke, because he believed that his brother deserved to finally be able to live a free life, free from the conspiring clans. Uchiha Itachi committed the ultimate sacrifice for his village, and was branded a traitor because of it. We have been working for months to find out how to legally bring the Council down without alerting their suspicion. They are corrupt. I beseech you to join us, you and your clans, to finally bring true justice to the Uchiha clan, and to bring down their corrupt ruling before we succumb to them as well. We cannot let them rule our village any longer." Stunned silence met the three grave women, the heads of the clans beside themselves in shock. They could not possibly fathom the meaning behind the secrets, the most shocking of all they'd ever uncovered. The clan leaders shared the same paralyzed looks, reeling from the possibilities. "Uchiha Itachi died a hero's death. It is only fitting he should be recognized and buried as such." Sakura stood, fierce and proud, amongst the most powerful shinobi in Konoha, and Tsunade eyed her with swelling pride. The nervous, insecure girl from their training days had vanished, replaced with a respectable, beautiful young woman. Tsunade cleared her throat and Sakura fell back in line with Shizune as she stepped forward, tossing a golden ponytail behind her.

"We have called you here today to decide what should be done with the Council. They tried to usurp my power using Danzo, they ordered the murder of one of the noble clans who helped found this village, and have broken the treaty. They are trying to kill Uchiha Sasuke to silence him, because they have already silenced us. I understand and respect your decisions if you cannot stand by us."

"You... you are talking about a coup upon the Council? Tsunade, you cannot be serious!" Aburame Shibi exclaimed, gazing around the rest of the room, silent and stoic. Chouza and Inoichi looked to Shikaku for guidance, who hadn't moved a muscle. He obviously supported Tsunade's stance, and while they weren't too sure about staging the take-over, they trusted Shikaku deeply and knew that he wouldn't even consider anything foolish. He was firmly cemented on Tsunade's side, and for this reason they did not voice their confusion and concern along with Shibi.

"I must agree with Shibi," Inuzuka Tsume spoke up. Her sharp teeth flashed as she spoke, and she darted her eyes around the room. "I certainly do not trust the Council, and believe that they are dangerous - but a coup? It sounds like a losing battle uphill, Tsunade-sama, with all due respect. Many villagers wish to see Uchiha Sasuke executed, and a lot of them will never see Uchiha Itachi as a hero."

"Yes," Shizune stepped in, "that is all true. We run the risk of being run onto the rocks, and while your concern is well-placed - I must agree with it - we have the most powerful clans on our side, if you choose to join us. The Rookie Nine, the new, brightest generation of ninja, your sons and daughters - are powerful allies as well. They are the youth of Konoha shinobi, and they will be well-listened to. People see Naruto as a hero, a savior now, as they ought to. Many people look up to Sakura as well. Together, they are nearly unstoppable. They win admiration and support wherever they go, and they are fresh faces. People will be eager to listen to them... and perhaps they will take the news of the Uchiha clan better than we think. No village wants to believe they spawned and inhabited murderous traitors. Itachi will become the black knight of Konoha, a martyr. We can reunite the Senjuu and Uchiha clans once and for all, if Sasuke is willing to cooperate. These people are looking for hope, and with the oppressive and restricting rule of the Council - not to mention the fear of the Council from the people, they will be aching for the freedom and trust we can provide them with." Nara Shikaku nodded with Shizune's declaration, and as Chouza and Inoichi locked eyes, they made a silent agreement. Inoichi hesitated, but once his eyes fell upon Sakura, his decision was made. They had to bloody their hands now and make the world a better place for the new generation, it was their duty. He thought of his own daughter, and it strengthened his resolve.

"The Yamanaka clan will stand firm by Tsunade-sama," Inoichi announced, and Akimichi Chouza seconded it as well. Shikaku looked at them gratefully, and slowly, one by one, all clan leaders agreed to the secret pact.

Sakura looked around the room, hope blooming in her chest. Hyuuga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi had been the last ones to join them, but they had joined, and that was all that mattered. She could not stop the smile from unfolding on her lips, triumph singing in her veins. They had won the support of the shinobi clans of Konoha. Hyuuga Hiashi stood to deliver his message.

"We, the great shinobi clans of Konoha, cannot allow these aberrations to rule our country any longer. They have murdered our brethren, the great Uchiha clan. Although relations with each other were strained at times and they were our rivals, we would never turn our backs on them. The Council has disgraced and besmirched the Uchiha, and have pushed all the blame unto Uchiha Itachi. They think that they can get by with this injustice, but we must stand and defend our fallen brothers and sisters, even though they fell long ago. I only regret we hadn't found out about this sooner. They have gone too far, and they will not slip away unpunished," he said, words ringing through the room. The clansmen and women stood to formally sign the document binding them together, swearing an oath of secrecy together before they were teleported out of the room. Only Shikaku, Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura were left in the meeting room. Tsunade dropped a hand on Sakura's shoulder, smiling.

"You did well, Sakura," Tsunade said softly, and Sakura felt her spirits soar with the praise her mentor gave her. Praise was hard-won and rarely acknowledged. Sakura beamed bright.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she blushed, biting her lip and looking down.

* * *

"What?" Naruto's resounding exclamation rang over the Hokage monument, sending a flock of birds scattering. Sakura winced at his wild, wide-eyed face, and with a helpless sigh turned to their former teacher.

"It isn't helping us any with you alerting the entire world, Naruto." They'd actually cast a silencing jutsu around the perimeter, but that was another case. Few villagers traveled up here, and coupled with the height above the village it was a great place to hold team meetings. Kakashi crinkled a lone eye at the poor stunned boy, who collapsed against Sakura for support.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked, pinching himself repeatedly. Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed Naruto's wrists, firmly commanding him to stop. He complied and finally stopped struggling with her. "It's really true?" he said in hushed tones, large blue eyes imploring. "The Council, the clan-leaders, everything?"

"Yes, Naruto. We're going to find out where Sasuke is." Sakura couldn't help but smile at the hope burning in Naruto's eyes, infectious and carefree. In spite of herself, she let a hopeful grin touch her lips. Not for the first time, she believed that Naruto could do  _anything_. "But that doesn't mean he's going to want to come home." Sakura was back to normal, mouth set in a grim line. "Nor does it mean he'll want anything to do with us." This time it was Naruto who grabbed her wrists, leaned down, placed his forehead upon hers, and stared furiously into her eyes.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" he snarled quietly, eyes burning. Sakura stared back, refusing to be intimidated. The wind blew fiercely around them but they paid no heed to the storm clouds brewing on the horizon, locked in a contest of wills.

"He tried to kill us, Naruto. He tried to kill  _me_. At this point, I don't know  _what_  I believe anymore. I'm not going to keep inviting him to break my heart over and over again." Sakura stared defiantly up at him, green clashing with fierce blue. She wanted to trust Sasuke so bad it hurt, breaking her down and building her back up, malevolent and driving all at once. The want, the  _need_  for him back in their life was blinding, debilitating. She would gladly chase after Sasuke to the ends of the earth, but she was human, and she could only take so much before it destroyed her. There were other people in her life now, people who were valuable and kind and strong, but she and Naruto could not let go of Sasuke. He was the only thing they wanted, and it was killing them from the inside. Sakura had to know, needed to know, whether or not they could weather the wait, whether or not he could fit back into their lives. But there was no way she would ever know, and torn between staying and walking away, she straddled the fence. She was stuck in an eternal tug-of-war, and there was nothing she could do about it. It would kill her either way if he decided he wanted nothing to do with them. She wanted to believe but it was so  _hard_.

"We've come so far, Sakura. Don't you  _dare_  give up on this now." Naruto grasped her shoulders, desperation cracking his voice and bleeding out at the edges. "Please, Sakura." Naruto looked so beat, so faded, that Sakura hesitated. He seemed so strong - to her, Naruto was relentless firepower, always strong and always scorching. To her, he never slowed down, never stopped, never gave up - even when the world was against him. He was the human heart of the body that made up their family, never failing to keep them going, never failing to deliver. But now, up close, she saw the dark circles under his eyes, she saw the fatigue, she saw how he was nearly burned out. She stared up at him, and decided she didn't deserve Naruto. Although she still felt strongly apprehensive about Sasuke, she let that smile curve her lips and decided it was high time she got to shine. Naruto had been running the show for so long, it was her turn to take over.

"For you, Naruto," she whispered, and for once she let all the barriers drop, let all the fears and worries melt away under Naruto's hopeful, desperate gaze. He was rapidly falling and needed someone to rekindle his fire, and she'd be damned if she let it burn out. She smiled at him, bright and blinding, and she closed her eyes, imagining Sasuke as their noble Konoha shinobi once again, and fed her energy straight into Naruto. The blond wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing her into him so hard and so desperately she felt like they had become one soul, thriving off each other. Kakashi watched from the back, pride in his heart. He'd watched the two grow from the ground up, surpassing Sasuke in their potential and as people. Sure, Sasuke could wipe the floor with either of them in battle, and he'd become nearly thrice as powerful... but he was born into fame and glory, and his reach spread far and wide, with armed thorns to match - like a spiny, long, low bush - but Naruto and Sakura had become Sunflowers. They shot above him in their drive for passion, built on love whereas he fortified his defenses with hatred. They saw what he did not, they saw what he could not. Kakashi felt guilt gnaw at him that he had been blinded by Sasuke, neglecting Naruto and completely ignoring Sakura. She had grown the most out of all of them, he surmised. Naruto's and Sasuke's parents had been powerful, power and force running in their bloodlines. Sakura had built herself from the ground up, grabbing at whatever she could to pull herself up and became a force to be reckoned with. Naruto and Sasuke were already gifted - Sakura was not. He watched as they built the strongest bond of all, intertwined so deeply with each other he surmised to separate was to die. They built the companionship they should have had with Sasuke, and together, no foe stood a chance. Kakashi smiled, because even though he'd failed them - they had attained far more than he could ever hope to achieve. He believed that together, they could reach for anything. The sun, the stars, the sky - together, they were unstoppable.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mount Nantai: stratovolcano in Nikko National Park; Honshu. Based it on the looks and its location at the ocean.

Sakura and Naruto looked around at the collected assembly before them; the Konoha Eleven. They stared back with faces varying between shock, anger and horror. Sakura gripped Naruto's hand tightly, fingers finding his in the tension. Hinata tried to ignore it, setting her lips in a thin line. They'd just addressed the elephant in the room - Sasuke. The Council, Itachi, the Uchiha Massacre, everything. The faces staring back at the remnants of Team 7 were dismayed and stunned, nothing close to hope creeping up on their faces, no relief there. Just shadows and sorrow and tension.

"We know," Sakura started, but her voice cracked and she paused, taking a deep breath as Naruto squeezed her hand. "We know that you guys didn't know Sasuke as well as we did. We know you all believe that he's a lost cause, and that we've only been tearing ourselves up for chasing after him. But we're reaching out to you, one last time, because this is our last shot. We know you don't understand how we can love someone who's done all these terrible things, but... we still believe he can change. This is not who he is. The real Sasuke is buried, deep inside somewhere, even if he doesn't know it. All we're asking is for you to place yourselves in our shoes. What if one of your teammates had gone rogue? Up and abandoned you, just like that. Nothing, not even the world could stop you from running after them. You'd do anything for them. Neji, Lee - what if Tenten had left? Would you listen to us? Would you turn your back on her and forget her? Would you stop trying to save her, ever, because you know what the  _real_  Tenten is like? Could you abandon someone you loved more than anything? Your team is your family. You save each other's lives. How could we give him up, just like that? I know that you all think we should've killed Sasuke when we had the chance, but... we know he's in there." Naruto gently gripped her fingers, encouraging, supporting.

"But look at Orochimaru, look at the legendary Sannin. Look at what he became. We can't watch you two chase after illusions. It hurts us, to watch you run yourselves to the ground and reach for things that will never be yours," Neji said, and he locked eyes with Sakura. "We're the Konoha Eleven, Sakura, not the Konoha Twelve." Sakura stared right back, undaunted by his declaration. The others seemed to agree with him, but she firmly held her ground.

"He couldn't hurt me, not when we first found him. He sent a chidori through everyone but me, even though I was right beside everyone else. He couldn't kill Naruto, not even with his sword at his throat and his sharingan locking away the kyuubi. And even though he tried to kill me - he couldn't do it. He could've knocked Naruto aside and drove the sword straight through my heart, but he didn't. He's had so many opportunities to kill us, and he keeps on telling us he's going to do it, and that we mean nothing to him... but when it boils down to it, he can't. He can't do it. He still has those bonds, no matter how much he's tried to get rid of them." Sakura lifted her chin in defiance, standing together with Naruto against the world. "If you're going to kill him, you have to get through us first. You'll have to kill us before you can lay a single finger on him. We're family, and we will not turn our backs on him because he is lost." Naruto nodded, blue eyes piercing. Neji turned away, running a tense hand through his hair. They were so stubborn. Yet he couldn't say he didn't admire them - their devotion was endless, their loyalty had no bounds. Though he thought they were in the wrong, it made him hope that someone would one day feel the same way about him as they did their teammate.

"We love Sasuke. And that's never going to change," Naruto said with finality, and they drew closer together. To everyone's surprise, Hinata stepped up, brushing off the incredulous looks from her teammates and cousin.

"I believe you, Naruto and Sakura," she said quietly, and Sakura let go of Naruto's hand and beamed at her. Hinata forgot all about Sakura as Naruto stepped up to her, towering over her.

"Do you really mean it?" he asked, low and rough, and the tenderness and hope there was almost too much to bear. Hinata smiled softly in response and took his hands, stroking her thumbs over the backs of his palms. She stared up into his eyes, letting that smile spread and take over her face as she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. She turned and threaded their fingers together, standing side-by-side next to Naruto and Sakura, facing the crowd. Rock Lee brushed away the tears that overcome his emotions, touched by their declarations, and came to stand by them as well. Ino stared at her team and turned to face her best friend, and smiled.

"Best friends have each other's backs, don't they?" Ino asked, and came to stand by Sakura. The smile that Sakura bestowed upon her was radiant, and while the rest looked unconvinced, Naruto and Sakura had enough on their side to make them reconsider.

"We'll think about it," Neji grunted, and one by one, they filed out of Sakura's apartment.

* * *

Karin rubbed the sleep from her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed in mild surprise. Still groggy, she addressed the man at the foot of her bed quite normally with a tinge of confusion, and leaned back against the pillows. She hadn't yet taken in her state of undress - a low-cut spaghetti strap and tiny booty shorts. She kicked back the blankets and yawned, closing her eyes to stretch. When she popped her eyes back open, she was met with Suigetsu's leering grin. She frowned at him, sleep-fuddled.

"What're you doing here so early?" she asked, "and why are you here?"

"I think I need to come here early in the morning more often..." Suigetsu smirked, to which Karin shrieked, finally fully waking up. Her top had peeled up her stomach in the middle of the night, exposing creamy, flat stomach. She pulled the shirt down and glared at him, pulling a large shirt over her spaghetti strap and meandered to the kitchen. "Nah, Naruto and Sakura asked to meet with us." At this, Karin swallowed, meeting his eyes. He looked as nervous as she did, and for that she was glad. She grabbed a mug and began to make coffee, staring shakily at the ground powder, pouring it into the top of the machine. She let out a whooshing breath and turned to face him when she was done.

"What time?" she asked. Unspoken questions raced between the two like wildfire, but neither was ready to approach the subject just yet.

"Ten." Karin glanced at the clock; eight. They had a couple of hours... but it only made the dread mount. It wasn't that they disliked the two, it was just more than awkward. It was difficult. They were estranged by Sasuke, a lot of hurt swirling between them, unscalable and uncrossable. They were in two separate parts of Sasuke's life, and it was impossible to mix the two together.

"Do you know what they want to talk about?" Karin finally spoke up, meeting Suigetsu's eyes. He stared back for a couple of seconds and then looked away, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"Not sure. They said it was important, though.  _Really_  important." Both of their minds jumped to Sasuke.

"I wonder what he's doing now..." Karin mused, thinking of the distant Uchiha. It was hard to imagine he'd had a life here, in Konoha. It was impossible not to picture him hard and cold. They couldn't ever imagine him in a team with Naruto and Sakura. They were brighter than the sun. Karin supposed it was also why it hurt so much - she, Suigetsu and Juugo were tiny flames on candles; Naruto and Sakura were wildfires. How does one compare to a supernova or a deity?

"Yeah..." Suigetsu agreed, watching as Karin placed a hand over her heart. She still had scars there, from where he'd plunged his hand into her chest. "Hopefully they can help him." Karin's eyes shot open and she stared at him, both sharing the pain of  _not being good enough_. They knew, of course, that Naruto and Sakura had every right, that they had known and loved Sasuke far longer than them... but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. They felt guilty for hurting, too, and for that reason never mentioned it to each other. Whereas Sasuke had been unable to kill Naruto or Sakura, he'd been able to murder Karin to get to Danzo. That smarted like hell. Karin couldn't hate him completely, however... she remembered the times he'd protected all three of them in turn, without a second thought. She supposed this was what kept Naruto and Sakura going, too. Sasuke was a cruel, cruel man. He toyed and teased just enough to leave you hanging, to leave you breathlessly in love with him, and only left you in the end. It was impossible to fully hate or love him, that they knew too well. When nine forty-five hit, they were out the door, two steaming mugs of coffee left behind on the dining table and their hearts in their throats.

"Come on in!" Sakura yelled, and Suigetsu tentatively tugged on the doorknob and pushed it open, sharing a quick glance with Karin before they both knelt to take off their shoes. They stored them neatly next to the door and stepped farther into Sakura's apartment, catching sight of the living room and the heads of yellow and pink. Sakura gestured for them to sit on the love seat opposite, and as soon as they sat they felt the tension coil in their stomachs. Sakura curled her legs up, tucking them into her chest as she burrowed deeper into the couch. Naruto held his ground, but the muscles in his legs tensed and his jaw clenched before relaxing. "We wanted to talk to you about Sasuke," Sakura said quietly, breaking the ice. She shared a knowing look with her teammate before he continued for her.

"We know where he is."Naruto said bluntly, staring them straight in the eyes. Neither Karin nor Suigetsu were expecting the bombshell. They stared, wide-eyed at the people across from them, and then each other. "Well, not yet. But we know a man who does. We're going to bring him home, and well... we're offering you a place on our retrieval team." Stunned, the two replacements leaned into each other for support. They considered the implications of the offer, and guilt mixed with awe as it sunk in.

Naruto and Sakura were at loathe to offer the chance to Sasuke's team, but they needed all the help they could get, and they knew his fighting style best. They'd sat down and contemplated over it for hours, torn, and even when they made up their minds and presented the question, they were still in agony over the decision. They didn't like seeing proof of their failure to keep Sasuke back home, they didn't like to see that he had made attachments, had built a team that wasn't Team 7. They didn't like remembering that he had picked _them_  over the people who loved him, cared for him, and wanted nothing more than to help him. But once they swallowed the bitterness - at least half of it - and tried to look at it logically, they realized that these people deserved to bring him home too. It was one of the hardest decisions they'd had to make in ages. Sakura stared at the pair across from them, studying their features. Karin had vibrant, beautiful hair, and exotic eyes to match. Sakura felt like a washed-out imitation placed beside her. Sakura tried to see if there were any similarities between Naruto and Suigetsu, and smiled. Nobody could ever dream of comparing to Naruto. Suigetsu was the washed-out imitation here.

"No offense, but... why are you doing this for us?" Suigetsu asked, uncomfortable as he shifted on the love seat. Sakura smiled at him, and she and Naruto's apprehension fell away. They were just as nervous and afraid about it as she was. They were uncertain in whether or not they could bring Sasuke back, and she realized that they were in the exact same position.

"Because he was your teammate, too. Not just ours."

* * *

"Sasuke is deep in Water Country," Tsunade said, tracing the rim of cup of tea before her. "Kenta couldn't pinpoint his position exactly, but said he'd been staying around the outlying islands, and often used a great waterfall as his homebase or a safe place to return to. He said the mountain was called Nantai, but he didn't know exactly where it was, just on a small island that bordered the main island of Kirigakure. You will leave in two weeks. Have Suigetsu and Karin decided to come?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, breathless. She could barely believe it. It all felt so surreal... she only hoped they found him this time, and that they could wrestle him back home. If they didn't... well, Sakura tried not to think about that. She didn't want to delve into the 'what ifs'. She decided that she would deal with it if it happened, but refused to dampen her optimism. Sakura felt conflicted about his return, however. She allowed herself to ruminate over that endlessly; it was nearly all she thought about. It affected her work performance, got to her in the shower, plagued her mind before she fell asleep.

Of course Sakura wanted him back, more than anything in the world... but she wasn't so sure about confronting him herself, seeing him in Konoha, watching him get used to being a Konoha citizen again. (If he came back home). She couldn't imagine talking to him. How could they ever hope to carry on even a simple conversation? Not that he would talk all that much, she surmised, but still. The trust between them seemed irrevocably shattered, damaged nearly beyond repair. It was like trying to build a bridge across a chasm with boards, but no rope. She loved him and hated him at the same time; two halves of her endlessly warring with each other. Half of her ached to run to him, hold him close and never let him go... the other half spat, good riddance. The other half wanted to beat him bloody black and blue, build their relationship up and destroy it within an instant, wanted to feel sweet revenge as she destroyed their fake castle and wanted to watch him fall to his knees as what he believed in fell to pieces all around him. Yet the part of her that loved him could not bear to part with him, and although she still wanted him to atone for what he had done... she would and could not do something so cruel to the person that had already lost everything. She fantasized about his return in the shower, taking turns between ignorance, a fight, and acceptance. Forgiveness was still far on the horizon, as with trust, but her heart never strayed far from the shore. It was a horrible paradox, torn between love and hate. She wished to be like Naruto. Sakura knew he would forgive and love Sasuke like he'd never left, though he would be smart enough to withhold his trust until Sasuke could prove his worth. She longed for the acceptance Naruto so easily gave, the forgiveness, the never-discriminating love. But Sasuke had not broken Naruto's heart in the way he had broken Sakura's. He still broke it nonetheless, but Naruto did not hurt the same way Sakura did. It was truly a dirty battle, and Sasuke had plenty of cruel and filthy tricks up his sleeves.

Sometimes, Sakura wished she'd fallen in love with Naruto instead. Life would be so much easier, she mused. A faint, wistful smile came to her lips as she kicked her feet up on the coffee table. If only she could've returned his feelings... but that wouldn't be fair to Hinata. Hinata deserved Naruto much more than she did, Sakura thought.

Most of all, Sakura realized, she was scared. She hated admitting it - who does, really? But it was the cold, hard truth. She was afraid that they wouldn't be enough, that she wouldn't be enough. She was afraid that he would come back just to break them all over again, ruin all they had rebuilt in one fell swoop. She was afraid that once he came back, she would never be able to move on. She was afraid of everything about Sasuke, terrified beyond belief. He had broken her so easily and he could do it again. No matter how strong she built her defenses, her assault... it would always crumble to pieces for Uchiha Sasuke. She was afraid that their relationship was unfixable, afraid that he would never truly return to them. Sakura gave a heavy sigh and curled up with a pillow, turning the TV on to take her mind off things. She was used hurting over Uchiha Sasuke, and today was no different. It was sad it had come to this - so used to the stabbing, burning ache that she could push it away and focus on other things. She tentatively hoped, because Sakura could not truly keep her heart at bay.

The insatiable need to protect Sasuke ate them away, both Naruto and Sakura. They would sooner die than let the Council, the kages, or the world get to Sasuke.

* * *

Deep in Water country, Sasuke reflected. He hadn't realized how empty, how lonely he felt. He surmised it had to do with the fact that, for the first time in life, he was utterly, completely and wholly alone. Back in Sound, he'd had Kabuto, Orochimaru, and slaves for company. He had Team Taka after that, then the Akatsuki and Madara... but now, he was finally alone. It was half peaceful and half disturbing, and now that he finally had the quiet and solitude he'd yearned for, he wasn't sure if he wanted it anymore. It made his mind wander, made him think about things he didn't want to think about. His life back in Konoha, for example, his brother, the price of treason and treachery. Uchiha Sasuke was finally grasping at the straws of humanity... but sense had come too late. There was no one he knew in Kirigakure, nobody familiar. He refused to call it loneliness, deciding he was having a fit of weakness, attributed to the physical strain the implant put on his body.

He ignored the fact that he was lying to himself, tried to conceal it behind ailments and exhaustion... but he wasn't any good at convincing. He gritted his teeth and looked up toward the cloudy, gray skies and waited for the rain. It came soon enough, quickly racing from a light, pleasant drizzle into a thundering downpour. Before, the rain had been cleansing, washing away all his memories, all his regrets, all he'd ever done. It had made him feel clean, a blank slate, washed free of Naruto and Sakura and their tenuous, stubborn holds. But he'd only watered their roots and they had regrown, each time entwining so deeply around him he couldn't cut himself free. Not that Sasuke knew it, of course. This time, the rain was ineffectual, and only seemed a reminder as to how lonely and hollow he'd become. The rain made him remember everything, not help him forget. Sasuke trudged to the waterfall, mindlessly blowing a swift katon to light a fire, sitting with his arms locked loosely around his knees, feet spread wide. He stared into the fire until it burned out, until the last embers went out and he was plunged into total darkness.

Sasuke didn't get any sleep that night. He stared at the ashes, the charred remnants of wood and branches, and reflected.


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura shifted the weight of her pack, swallowing nervously as she looked up at the towering gates of Konoha. Anxiety choked her up as she leaned against the chipping paint, and she couldn't believe they were doing this. An overwhelming sense of deja vu and vertigo overpowered her senses, and she gripped the gate with paint-peeling fingers. Her knuckles bleached and her hands shook slightly, and she didn't know whether to smile with hope, cry with despair, or laugh at their own foolishness. Six long months after the war, and they were still running after flimsy dreams, chasing after a house of cards. Sometimes she admired their own perseverance, sometimes she mocked their foolish dedication. She gazed through the early-morning darkness to the path before them, leading out of the main gates of the village. She hadn't really been able to sleep all night. She sighed and rubbed her knuckles over her eyes, taking in the fresh morning air, hoping beyond hope that their mission would be successful. It was nerve-wracking, waiting for the others. Naruto soon joined her, restless and excited. She could tell by the bags under his eyes that he'd barely slept a wink as well. They stared at each other, understanding, and protected the tiny flame of hope between them. They leaned back against the gates and waited, butterflies fluttering in Sakura's stomach.

Team Taka arrived first, and Sakura could see the tension in Suigetsu's upper body, the tensed muscles in Karin's legs. Naruto raised a hearty hand in greeting, exchanging pleasantries and small talk as the others began to trickle in. Naruto could sense the pessimism in about half the group that amassed before them, but he wouldn't let it dampen his spirits. They were reluctant to come, but still had arrived and he was grateful beyond words. Support was what they needed - not literal backup, but just enforcement that they were doing the right thing, inspiration. The odds were stacked against them, piled high in what seemed to be a losing fight, but Naruto and Sakura refused to sink.

Naruto and Sakura pulled determination from thin air, like alchemy or magic. It came when they called upon it, easy as breathing. At least, that's what Karin thought. They could create everything out of nothing, and even when their backs were pressed against the wall they cut their own doors, cleaved escapes with nothing but sheer willpower. In Karin's eyes, they were indestructible, infallible, like stars. They would burn white-hot forever, even long after they were to die. It was inevitable. She felt so out of place, she and Suigetsu, standing uncomfortably next to the group of loyal ninja. They revolved around teamwork, trust, and support - something she and Suigetsu had rarely witnessed until Team Taka. They shared an uncomfortable glance after staring at Naruto and Sakura, who depended on each other so heavily, so completely it terrified them. Karin wondered if she and Suigetsu would ever be like that one day - and desperately hoped they would. Once she got past the sheer terror of putting faith so wholly into another, Karin found out that the prospect wasn't so bad - inviting, even. She stole another look at Suigetsu and felt warmth rush down her body all the way to her toes, fighting a blush. She watched the remnants of Team 7 once more, drawn to them like gravity. Their relationship was fascinating and captivating. Watching them was entrancing, Karin decided. The way they acted around each other, the friendly banter and deep undercurrents of bottomless trust and love made her ache for what they had. She chanced another quick peek at Suigetsu and found him staring right at her, unabashed and unashamed. She met his lavender eyes evenly, inwardly struggling to keep her composure. Their gazes were broken at the sound of light footsteps, and they all turned to see Sai approaching out of the darkness, ever-present fake smile plastered on his face.

"Morning," he greeted politely, to which Naruto rolled his eyes and Sakura smiled.

"It's not morning, it's the ass-crack of dawn," Naruto complained, wincing as Sakura slugged him.

"Shut up, Naruto," she threatened with her fist, sharing a look with him before they both pounced on Sai. Completely taken aback, the painter staggered a few steps backward, overcome by the weight of both his teammates. They'd rushed him with a tight group hug, Naruto at his left and Sakura tucked into his right. Sai tentatively hugged them back, patting both their backs with his hands.

"I believe our relationship has just ascended to a higher level," Sai proclaimed, to which Sakura gave a giggle and Naruto snorted. They slightly broke apart at the sound of Kakashi's telltale poof, smoke filtering through the air.

"I'm glad to see you're finally all getting along so well," the Jounin proclaimed, lone eye crinkling in a smile. This time, Naruto's and Sakura's devious smiles could not be contained and they rushed Kakashi as well, dragging Sai with them.

"We're bringing Sasuke back home, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whispered, just so that the four of them could hear. They all stood in silence for several moments, holding on as tightly as they could before they broke apart. Just as they were readjusting their clothes and sliding back from the group-hug, the rest of the retrieval team came into view with blank faces and yawns. They all greeted each other warmly, ran swiftly through their plans, and passed through the giant gates with tension in the air.

* * *

Sakura stood high over the camp, half-concealed in the trees, looking eastward with her back to the team. The rest lounged in tents or around the fire pit, talking idly amongst themselves. Tenten, Hinata and Neji sat in a small half-circle, staring at Sakura's back. She blended in with the canopy and the darkness around them, the only thing standing out the bright circle wide across her back.

"You think she's holding up okay?" Tenten murmured, low enough so that her voice would not carry.

"I imagine she's very anxious," Hinata mused. "This must be very hard for her - and Naruto," the heiress sighed, white eyes darting off in the direction Naruto had taken. He'd gone to bathe several minutes ago, but they all knew it was hard for the two to sit still when they  _knew_ where Sasuke was - when he was at their fingertips. Neji admired the back of her profile for several seconds, staring at her rigid form.

"I'm surprised she or Naruto haven't taken off already," Neji admitted, "look at her. She's ready to take off any minute." He said this without any warning implied, just casual observation. Sakura and Naruto were itching to run deep into the hours of the next morning, but they knew they needed their team and time to come up with backup plans. They were smart enough to hold back - after all, they'd been chasing Sasuke for years. They could wait a little longer.

Neji stared at the slowly dying fire, long after Hinata and Tenten had disappeared into the maze of tents around them. Sakura's stiff form was still there, half-shrouded in darkness, gazing out through the canopy at the distance before them. With silvery eyes fixated on her back, Neji silently stood, and in one graceful, powerful jump, tucked his legs beneath him and soared up to Sakura's side with a burst of chakra. Sakura didn't acknowledge him at first, her gaze never roving from the rolling hills outside the forest.

"There's no rush, Sakura," his smooth voice assured her, low and calm. "Come back and eat something. He won't leave. There's nowhere else for him to go," Neji placated her, and she finally turned to look at him, jade eyes apprehensive and just a little sad. He offered her a shadow of a smile, silver eyes gentle and kind. There was no derision in them, and she allowed him to figuratively take her hand and lead her from her perch. They landed with twin thuds, and Sakura never thought she'd have a pleasant companionship with Neji - let alone even talk. He wasn't mean, but they'd never really had opportunities to interact, aside from the rebuilding of Konoha. He'd protected her several times, and she him in the war, and had exchanged a few pleasantries in the aftermath, but they'd never really exchanged conversation.

"Hungry?" he asked, and she nodded mutely, stunned that he was even making dinner for her. He stoked the winding-down fire and threw in several more logs, uncovering the pot hanging over the fire. He stirred it around and ladled it into her bowl, handing her his canteen and patiently waited. Sakura devoured the meal, astounded by his display of kindness. She wasn't shocked by his gentle spirit, but more the fact that he was doing this for a person he barely knew.

"It must be hard," he remarked, and she lifted her eyes from the beef stew to follow him. "You and Naruto are really admirable," he told her, and Sakura was glad the night hid the faint dust of pink on her cheeks. Neji was no doubt a highly attractive and powerful man, and to have him upright tell her she was admirable was butterfly-inducing. Sakura knew, of course, that he and Tenten were bound to end up together, so the butterflies weren't romantic - more of delightful surprise and embarrassment at his bold claim. That, and he was very attractive. Nothing on Sasuke, though - at least to her. She harrumphed quietly into the bowl, scowling at a swirling carrot. "Is something wrong?" Neji asked, bringing her out of her thoughts, a confused frown on his face.

"Oh, no," Sakura stuttered, laughing lightly. "I was just thinking about Sasuke." There was a slight of heaviness in her words, but Neji looked over it like a true gentleman. She inwardly bemoaned the fact she hadn't fallen for someone else, like the Iwa-nin, or even Lee for example. Like that would've ever happened. Sakura allowed herself to wallow in misery and self-pity for several seconds before digging back into her meal. "I think I'd have a better chance with Gaara than Sasuke... nah scratch that, Gaara would be a piece of cake compared to him."

Across the campfire, Neji was slowly getting a handle on Sakura and Naruto, and their relationship with their traitor teammate. At first he hadn't understood at all. How could they support, defend, and even love a traitor? Sasuke had gone above and beyond the definition of ultimate betrayal, and yet they were both still head-over-heels for him. They believed they could save him from himself. At first, he had regarded their ideologies with contempt and pity, but as time wore on his opinions shifted.

"I was just wondering... forgive me if I offend you, but how can you hold on to him like this? Even after everything he's done to you?" Neji's eyes were searching, with honest intentions. Sakura gave him a wry, bitter smile, leaning back as she gave a chuckle. She licked her lips and shook her head, giving a little shrug of the shoulders.

"I don't really know. Well, I guess I do - but it's just uncontrollable. We know who he was, who he could be, who he really is, buried deep inside. And that's what keeps us going, I guess. Sasuke just took the wrong path, that's all. He's hurting so much that he's blinded by the insatiable need for vengeance, and for his pride. But not only that, he has to redeem the Uchiha. He has to make them untouchable, so that his very name is imposing, full of power. So no one will ever want to cross the clan again, or even speak badly of them. Sasuke pushed us away because he was afraid. He was afraid of losing everything he ever loved again." Sakura's eyes were serious, solemn. Neji drank in every word. "He really did care for us, you know. Like the way Naruto and I care for each other. He was always bad at showing it, but when it counted... he was there. He saved my life countless times. He hated himself and punished himself because he couldn't save me from Gaara when we were 13. He saved Naruto's life more times than I can count. Hell, he had so many opportunities to kill us both... but he never took them. He only really threatened. Why do we still care about him? We love him. We can't control who we love, or how we love them. Sasuke is like my rock. If I lose him, my anchor, I lose myself. He is my everything. To Naruto, he's his everything too. In the same but yet different way. We look like fools, I know. But none of that matters if we get him back, back where he belongs. Sasuke's family deserves justice, but not like this. Sasuke just doesn't know what to do, so he's turning to the only thing he's ever known. Hatred and revenge. He's too scared to love. He loved his back and because of it, he left us. He didn't think he was powerful enough to protect us - Orochimaru's mark and the exams only amplified what he felt. He left us because he felt weak, and because he wanted revenge. He's still Sasuke, he just hasn't come back yet. It's always the darkest before dawn." Sakura's words were earnest and resounding, surprising Neji with the depth of her lengthy reply. Twigs snapped beneath Sakura's shoes as she shifted her crossed legs, bringing her fingers down to dig into the fallen pine needles. She stared at him, trying to make him understand. She braced herself for a blistering putdown, but to her surprise, Neji reached out to touch her shoulder. The gesture was small, but meaningful beyond compare. Sakura gave him a small, fragile smile, which he returned. She set the bowl of food aside. "Thank you, for dinner. I appreciate it." Sakura said, to which Neji waved off.

"Don't mention it. I'm glad we talked, Sakura. I'm just sad we hadn't done it sooner." Sakura laughed, delighted to have found a new friend. It would certainly strengthen the team as well, and she'd found a new confidant. Who'd ever thought she'd find a friend in  _Neji_? Not her, that's for sure. She hoped Naruto would take the new development without much complaint.

"So, you and Tenten, hun?" Sakura asked, a playful smile on her lips. She took great delight in the way Neji suddenly blanched, looking up at her with a swift deer-in-the-headlights look before vehemently denying the claim. He pursed his lips together and sent her a level, searing stare. Sakura only smirked, and raised a challenging eyebrow. "No matter. I'll pry the truth out of you sooner or later."

Neji repressed a shudder. All women were terrifying in their own right - Sakura with her brute strength and seemed to have picked up a few things from Ino, Ino with her brutal gossip and nagging techniques, Tenten with the sheer amount of deadly weapons and expertise she yielded, and Tsunade-sama with her enormous strength and infamous temper. Shikamaru's mother was a force to be reckoned with as well, and when Hinata was incensed and drew out of her shell... Neji vowed to stay single for as long as he could. Neji was loathe to be on the receiving end of any of their anger. He wondered how Naruto dealt with Sakura's temper and strength. He supposed the Nine Tails was the only thing keeping the idiot alive at this point.

"I'm going to turn in, I think. No use in tiring myself out," Sakura murmured, to which Neji agreed with. He was assigned to first watch, and was glad to see that Sakura was finally being rational. "I'll wait for Naruto, though. We're both going to bed... and if he refuses..." a terrifying glint came to her eyes, and Neji was suddenly  _very_  glad he was not Naruto, or any other of her teammates for that matter.

Ten minutes later, crashing and twigs snapping alerted them of the blond's arrival, loud as always.

"Naruto!" Sakura admonished. "People are  _sleeping_!" she hissed, to which Naruto dodged a punch and hastily apologized in a whisper. "Now, we're going to bed. Don't be stupid or I'll throw you from here to Suna. You can try and catch up with us then." Sakura was in no mood to beat around the bush or banter with the jinchuuriki, and Neji watched with equal parts fear and admiration as she whipped Naruto into shape. The usually headstrong blond immediately acquiesced, obediently trekking into his own tent with reluctant submission. Neji found it hard to say he wasn't astonished. The kunoichi then slipped into her own tent, leaving the camp quiet aside from rustling of sleeping bags and the wind.


	7. Chapter 7

Water Country was beautiful. They were at the edges of the border, gazing at fog-swept marsh far in the distance. Naruto and Sakura shared a long look, stomachs churning with excitement and anxiety.

"Perhaps we'll get to see Tazuna," Naruto remarked, and Sakura gave a slow smile, thinking of the bridge-builder and his family.

"And the Great Naruto Bridge," Sakura laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears as Kiba gave an uproarious start.

"I thought you were kidding!" the Inuzuka boomed, staring incredulously at the boisterous blond. The brunette strode toward Naruto, switching his gaze between the two teammates. "There really is a bridge named after you? I thought Naruto was bluffing!"

"I'm hurt," Naruto declared, but he couldn't stop the wide grin from spreading across his face. Sakura laughed and smacked the blond's arm, grateful to start the day off so light-heartedly. They certainly needed it right now, more than anyone could know.

"Oi, what're you blabbering off about?" Suigetsu demanded, teeth flashing in the sunlight.

"Naruto has a bridge named after him - Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and I were on an escort mission to Mist, but the local Yakuza didn't want the bridge to be finished and thus tried to take Tazuna's life. We defeated both Zabuza and Haku; both hired by the Yakuza. Tazuna later named his bridge after Naruto," Sakura smiled fondly, reminiscing. "I remember I thought Sasuke died," Sakura laughed, mirth bubbling up inside her. Naruto joined her in raucous laughter.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan, you were like, sobbing over his body! Oh, geez..." Naruto wiped away a few tears brought on by his laughter, and Sakura laughed even harder.

"Oh god, I was such a weirdo. The first thing he said to me when he woke up was, 'Sakura, you're heavy.' I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or incredibly offended." At this Kiba gave a bark of laughter. "Good thing I didn't have my super-strength back then... I probably would've killed him by accident." Sakura finished, grinning.

Karin pushed her spectacles up and surveyed the throng of ninja, feeling so out of place. Confusion welled up inside her - she hadn't ever seen Sasuke act like they claimed. The Sasuke she and Suigetsu knew was cold, menacing, and dangerous. If anyone had done what Sakura had, he would've killed them in a heartbeat. She couldn't see him as anything but untouchable. Six months ago, she would've surveyed the pink-haired woman and would've sized her up, trying to figure out what made her so special. Karin would've thought that Sakura seemed faded, flighty and unreliable. But now... Karin's hand drifted up to the puckered scar on her chest, tracing the forked lines right above her heart. Sasuke had tried to kill her. He'd almost succeeded - if it hadn't been for Sakura. She'd zipped right in and grabbed her, not even pausing to muse over the fact that  _this_  was the girl Sasuke'd picked over her. This was her replacement. But Sakura hadn't given a shit. And in that moment, Karin realized what made her so beautiful. Sakura had gone for Karin even though her world was standing right there, even though everything she'd ever wanted was at her fingertips. Instead, Sakura had chosen to save Karin's life. Karin stared at Sakura, wondering how she remembered that day.

* * *

_flashback_

Sakura burned. She was on fire with desperation, agony clawing fiercely at her chest. Sasuke stood in all his dark glory, and she ached for him like a dying man does for water. Every molecule of her body strained to be near him, like a fierce gravitational pull. But he was not the Sasuke they knew. He was covered in blood, black eyes awash with sadistic malice. Sasuke held Kusanagi in a loose grip, glinting crimson-red in the sunlight. Sakura could've sworn it was a year she stood there, torn between an inferno of desire and terrible horror. But then the smallest of sounds reached her ears, and with mounting panic she realized it was someone's last, dying breaths. A quiet gurgle arrested her attention, and she whipped her head around, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from Sasuke. And then the full gravity of the situation hit her like a truck. Danzo and Sasuke's teammate lay in a stiff embrace, blood seeping in widening circles around them. What horrified Sakura was the wound in both of their chests - and Sasuke's smirk slammed into her. Sakura's eyes widened, she gasped, and that was all it took. Sasuke disappeared from her mind, and she was off like a shot, wresting Karin from Danzo's cold embrace. The dying girl gurgled and bright red streamed from her lips in rivulets, teeth wet and glimmering with blood. Karin's eyes were dulling, hazed over with pain. Tremors ran down her body - the aftermath of chidori. Sakura forced the ramifications from her mind, trying not to think that it was Sasuke who'd done this - and who just stood there, in his sickening, vicious triumph. Sakura's hands flared green, and just like that she was a supernova, working harder and faster than she'd ever done in her life.

Nothing mattered but the dying girl in her hands. Sakura didn't notice Sasuke's gaze upon her back, hot as fire. For the first time in her life she'd completely ignored Sasuke, and it was a triumph she was unconscious of.

* * *

Sakura passed a hand over her eyes, drawing in a deep breath. Crisp air filled her lungs, along with the scent of the forest and the remnants of their ashy campfire. Each step they took closer to Sasuke, the more Sakura wanted to run away. It confused and frightened her more than anything. For years all she'd ever wanted was  _SasukeSasukeSasuke_ ; she'd dreamt and wished for the day. But as each hour passed, dread mounted and festered within her, turning her insides to ice. Suddenly she no longer wanted to find him - she wished she could turn tail and run forever. Then she wouldn't have to think about their problems, her feelings - all she would have to think about was getting away.

Caught up in her musings, Sakura didn't notice Naruto beside her until his hand found hers, and she could feel the tremble of excitement in his palm. His hand dwarfed hers, encompassing it in sheer size and warmth. Naruto's skin was hot to the touch, always around 100 degrees. Sakura theorized it was the kyuubi's chakra and power that kept his temperature up, red-hot chakra mixing with his own beneath the surface. She gave him a shaky smile, hoping he would pass it off as nervousness. It seemed he did, because he ran his tongue across his lips, a tic of his. It let her know he was feeling antsy, too. Sakura could feel it in his hand, could feel the energy pouring off him in waves.

"I'm scared," Sakura quietly admitted, pitching her voice low so only Naruto could hear.

"Me too, Sakura-chan," the blond breathed out, giving her hand a squeeze. And just like that, relief washed over Sakura. She smiled, leaning into his side.

"I love you," she whispered, breathing in his scent. He smelled of masculinity, with a fresh hint of pine and an underlying aroma of instant ramen. Naruto mumbled the words back, stroking soothing circles onto the back of her hand with his thumb. They stood together, strong and a brilliant picture in the morning sunlight, silently waiting to move forward. And as Kakashi drew up the rear, they shared identical grins. It was time to bring Sasuke home - and then Sakura would figure out how to deal with the turmoil inside her. They'd wanted this for far too long to screw up now.

The Great Naruto Bridge greeted them like an old friend, and Naruto and Sakura pretended to shield their eyes from the sun, but Kakashi could see the light tears in their eyes. They'd come full circle now, and they were finally beginning to close the tumultuous chapter in their life - and start anew. The bridge was huge. It spanned between the main continent and the smaller islands of Water Country, scores of people currently milling about it.

Facing the bridge that spanned the gap between yesterday and tomorrow, Sakura felt the hopelessness melt from her shoulders. For reasons she couldn't explain, confidence straightened her shoulders and lengthened her spine. But then the moment was gone, like the sun shining brilliantly for several seconds on an intensely cloudy day. Worries and doubts crept and slithered up her spine with each step toward the islands, replacing her flash of confidence. Sakura shook away the ideals of the thirteen year old from her genin days, tilting her head to the sky and praying to whatever was out there for strength and bravery. She was fatigued, rundown and weathered. Her wings were torn and tattered, and she barely had any strength to fly. But she had feet, and she had legs. So that was what Sakura did. She didn't lean on wishes and hopes and dreams anymore, she simply tried to face reality. Loving Sasuke was exhausting, and not just in the romantic sense.

Their first stop was the Tazuna's - but the man that opened the door was far too young to be the bridge builder, and far too old to be his grandson.

"We're looking for Tazuna-san," Sakura said a bit bemusedly, casting a confused glance to the large team behind them. The man's eyes surveyed her and her squad with great interest, eyes wide in excitement. His wife came to the door, placing a hand somewhat possessively on his arm and giving Sakura her best pearly-whites.

"Tazuna?" the man said slowly, scratching his head with a free arm.

"Built the Great Naruto Bridge?" Sakura asked, hoping to jog his memory. "Used to live here, has a daughter and a grandson..."

"Ah! Tazuna-sama," the man exclaimed a bit reverently, nodding enthusiastically. "I'll take you there!"

"As will I," stressed his wife, and Sakura thought that if looks could kill, she'd be long gone.

"Great, thank you so much, we don't mean to bother you - " Sakura paused to gesture at her large team, who were attracting droves of attention from passerby. The locals were quite apprehensive, giving them a wide berth. Sakura didn't blame them - after so many years of being rife with violence and death, Water Country was only beginning to heal. She guessed that they hadn't seen such a large gathering of shinobi in a long time, and the last time it happened destruction had wreaked the village.

"Oh, no problem at all!" gushed the husband, who'd rarely seen a team of benevolent ninja. He'd wanted to be a shinobi, but there was no ninja school save for the Hidden Mist, and his mother had vehemently refused to send him. His wife glared daggers at the back of his head, but he seemed not to notice as he stepped outside.

"Tazuna-sama's house is just up this way," the man explained, the grin on his face wide enough to rival Naruto's.

"Excellent!" Naruto exclaimed, giving out a whoop of celebration. Sakura caught up with her exuberant teammate, trying not to smile at his antics.

"So, you're shinobi, right?" the wife questioned. "What kind of missions do you go on?" This was directed at Sakura, who wanted to sigh in exasperation.

"Yes, we are, ma'am. Most of my missions are highly classified. The mission depends on the shinobi's rank."

"Explain to us, we've got lots of time," the man butted in, pointing at the winding staircase up a steep hill.

"The missions are ranked from A to D based on importance and risk. D-rank missions are the lowest and are given to genins, and they can be silly things such as chasing cats or a low-profile escort mission. They are generally localized and usually aren't dangerous. It could be something as simple as transportation, and they are accompanied by their sensei, who is usually a skilled Jounin. The ranks are genin, chuunin, special-jounin, jounin and then Hokage. C and B-rank missions are usually assigned to chuunin, who are more skilled than genin but are not as advanced as jounin. Very few make it to jounin. A-rank missions are always given to jounin. There's a rank of missions above A, and that's S-Class. S-Class missions are reserved for ANBU members, an elite group of shinobi who have been recommended from the pool of jounin. S-Class missions are usually assassinations, surveillance or infiltration." Sakura explained it efficiently, and by the time the man was done asking questions about the Konoha hierarchy and had moved onto her weapons pouch, they'd reached the top. Somewhat relieved, the group thanked the couple and waved them back down the hill.

Naruto predictably bounded forward first, barged right on through the gate and rapped smartly on the door with his knuckles.

"Coming!" rang a young boy's voice, and within several seconds the door swung open to reveal a grown Inari. His hair had grown out some since they'd seen him, somewhat spiky at the top. He'd lost the hat and Sakura could tell the boy was going to be handsome a few years down the road.

"Naruto! Sakura-san! Kakashi-sensei!" Inari crowed out in astonishment, giving them an ear-splitting grin as he stepped back to yell into the house. "Grandpa, mom! You'll never _believe_  who's here!" Inari's mother and grandfather came to see what the ruckus was about, and both gasped in delighted surprise. The rest of the retrieval team looked on as excited greetings were exchanged. The bridge builder soon invited the entire squad in, and as they settled around the dining table, Tazuna finally asked why they were here.

"Simply not visiting - especially not with these numbers of ninja," he quipped, smiling around at the throng of young adults.

"We're here to bring Sasuke home," Naruto revealed, eyes downcast. "We have intel he's stationed here, on one of the smaller islands." Drawing in a deep breath, Naruto began the long, sad tale of their lost teammate, starting with Sasuke's defection. Sakura chimed in at points as well, and the group sat long into the night, listening to Naruto and Sakura's incredible journey.


	8. Chapter 8

His eyes hurt. They throbbed, pulsing with pain as they tried to focus. Sasuke snapped them shut within moments of waking, a confused grunt emitting from his throat. They hurt regularly, but never like this. He surmised they were worsening, but he had no one to turn to. Sasuke grit his teeth, hissing in pain. What was wrong with his eyes? The transplant had gone smoothly - or had it? Zetsu had kept him pumped full with antibiotics and painkillers while he'd healed, also following up Orochimaru's grueling admission of strengthening and enhancing drugs. Sasuke was still experiencing lingering effects of withdrawal, but the cravings weren't strong and were far between. He wondered what went wrong - was it simple eyestrain, or something more? Had something gone awry during the operation that he wasn't aware of? The only thing Sasuke truly had left was his eyesight. He was nothing without his bloodline limit.

Sasuke tried unsuccessfully to open his eyes again, but the searing pain forced him to close them once more. Alarm swept through the Uchiha like a tidal wave, fear pounding fiercely in his gut. His stomach rose to his throat, and he settled back down gently on his bedroll. He kept his eyes shut, feeling around for his pack. He had a handful of painkillers left, which he'd saved for extreme situations, like in the event of a broken rib or other bone. Sasuke hastily popped two pills, grabbing a hunk of bread and tearing it in half to help his body digest the pill quicker. He struggled to stand, gripping the cave wall heavily. His sense of balance was shot. Probing the rough terrain carefully with his feet, Sasuke inched forward until he reached the roaring waterfall, rinsing his body clean. Feeling along the wall until he reached his bedroll, he gently slid into the sleeping bag, panic washing through his system. What was he supposed to do? Would he lose his vision forever? His sharingan? Life without his bloodline limit was unthinkable, impossible. To lose it would be to die. Sasuke took deep breaths to calm himself, determining to get more sleep. Perhaps in a few hours he would feel better.

* * *

Sakura warred with apprehension and the rushing excitement in her chest, emotions overwhelming her like a tidal wave. She wanted to find Sasuke, but she didn't want to see him. She wanted to bring him home, but she knew that the moment she laid eyes on him, it would be her unraveling. If they lost him again this time, she didn't know what she would do. Sasuke was an unknowing thief, and in the palm of his cruel hand laid Sakura's heart.

Sakura was by no means weak, and she was by no means controlled by Uchiha Sasuke. But the fact remained she was in love with him, and he had the ability to break her heart as many times as he pleased. Sakura couldn't decide whether she hated or loved him anymore. She had never really understood the saying about love turned the most fervent of hatred, but she did now.

Sakura forced herself to swallow her apprehension, strengthening her resolve. Now was not the time to be weak. Sakura pocketed her uncertainty and doubt for another time, straightened her back, and pushed the sliding door open. The faces of Naruto, Sai and Kakashi greeted her, all murmuring quiet hellos and good mornings. Sakura smiled in return, moving forward just as the rest of the retrieval team began to trickle through the door.

Suigetsu and Karin entered, keeping to themselves. It was all terribly awkward until Shikamaru, the brilliant strategist, pulled out some maps and began to roughly pinpoint where the Uchiha was staying.

"We'll have to methodically search each of these islands until Sasuke is found. A mere chakra-sweep will not determine his location, he is most likely more than adept at completely concealing his signature. However, while this will buy us the certainty of clearing off each island, the possibility still remains that he is on the move. He has no idea of our presence here, although that is also uncertain. Our arrival in such a large number is unusual, and it won't be long before news of our group spreads throughout the country. We'll have to work fast and efficiently. I've devised a strategy. We will split up in groups, along with inter-connected summons. In lieu of radios, which we will also have equipped for short-range recon, we will have summons that can easily traverse through the other dimension to communicate. We will have to sweep the islands in a linear fashion; we will need one group covering each and every island in a horizontal line and sweep the islands until we find him. That is the only sure-fire way of catching Sasuke," Shikamaru explained, "in addition, we will leave a chakra barrier seal that will alert us when a shinobi steps foot onto the islands we left behind. Even if Sasuke can make his chakra signature disappear completely from our senses, he won't be able to fool the seals." All the ninja in the room nodded their acceptance, finding no holes in the strategy. Shikamaru nodded, satisfied, and rolled up the maps.

"We should start working on dividing up the summons," Kakashi announced. The silver-haired ninja bit his thumb and called his pack of ninken. Eight dogs exploded into existence at his feet, and as they roamed about the room, sniffing each of the ninja individually, Shikamaru stared at them in deep thought. The strategist stared hard at the map, and then mentally divvied up the teams.

"We'll keep in groups of three - so we'll only need five ninken, Kakashi."

"Wait," Sakura interjected, who'd been staring at her sandals hard in thought for several minutes. "The seals will only pick up if a ninja has crossed, not specifically Sasuke. We will lose advantage and time if we double back every time someone with chakra crosses the borders. We should leave summons on each island we come across - they can communicate through dimensions with us as well, as discussed earlier. I can summon Katsuyu and Naruto can summon his toads if need be - this way we won't have to waste our time." Sakura looked around the room, finding everyone nodding their heads in agreement. She gave a small smile and the talk turned to supplies and communication, as well as dividing up teams. It was decided that Yamato and Sai would accompany Karin and Juugo, whilst Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto would make up another team. The rest of the teams were kept in their three-man squads.

Karin and Suigetsu stayed silent for the duration of the meeting - while they felt comfortable to voice their opinions around Naruto and Sakura, they endured scathing glances from several members of the Konoha Eleven, and the general reaction towards them was more hostile than friendly. The drop-dead gorgeous blonde, for example, gave them nothing but scorching, mocking glares and sniffed with derision each time either of them chose to speak. The dog-nin did as well, rolling his eyes each time so much as a sigh came from their lips. Not only that, they endured the judgmental glances of the milky-eyed boy, although his relative was kind.

* * *

"Good luck, you lot," Tazuna exclaimed, waving the group off on their mission. Inari lingered beside him, slightly nervous before such a formidable group of ninja. He found the courage in him to shout that he believed in them, for which he earned a 'believe it' from Naruto and smiles from the Konoha shinobi and kunoichi.

Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other as they approached the docks, shifting their packs on their shoulders. Sakura couldn't help the anxious fluttering in her stomach and they hadn't even left for the first island yet. She could tell Naruto felt the same way; he bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly and ran a hand through his hair every couple of minutes. Naruto licked his lips, squared his shoulders, and marched up to the dock master. After the exchange of a hefty amount of ryo, the group was able to commandeer a small, speedy vessel for the journey. They also paid for the time of the driver, who was set to accompany them throughout their entire journey. Naruto squinted sadly at his froggy pouch which had deflated quite a bit, patting the half empty pouch with a big sigh.

"You'll be reimbursed when we get back home," Sakura laughed, having witnessed the display. She patted the top of Naruto's head and he blushed at being caught, hurriedly stuffing the money pouch away. "I can't believe you still use that old ratty thing to hold your money... along with that nappy nightcap of yours." Naruto glared at her half-heartedly before turning to assess the boat they were to use. It boasted sun-faded blue paint and a varnished deck, and the perfect size for their group. They all boarded, enjoying the salty breeze and the beautiful, early-morning view of the ocean.

They all set their packs down for the forty minute boat ride, and migrated to different parts of the boats to admire the view. Naruto migrated over to Hinata, where they exchanged quiet words at the prow. Neji kept a watchful eye on Tenten, who was enjoying a hearty breakfast with their teammate Lee, laughing every now and then at something he said. Karin and Suigetsu stuck to each other, talking quietly amongst themselves. Sakura leaned against the railing with Sai and Kakashi, butterflies swarming in her stomach as she stared at the island on the horizon. Sai was silent beside her, the only sound he made was the rasp of his paintbrush on canvas as he painted a serene picture of the island and the sea. Kakashi's nose was stuck in his fluorescent book, to which Sakura rolled her eyes at amusedly. She pushed off from the railing and joined her best friend at the other side of the boat, giving her a greeting smile.

"You don't have to do that, you know," Sakura said lowly so that no one else could hear. Ino feigned ignorance, staring at her with wide eyes.

"What are you talking about, Sakura?" Ino bluffed, but Sakura saw straight through it. Sakura smiled in a rush of affection for her loud-mouthed friend, shaking her head.

"Karin and Suigetsu. You don't have to death-stare them into oblivion each time one of them makes a noise," Sakura laughed. Ino only shrugged.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the blonde sniffed, turning her nose up haughtily. Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed her friend's shoulder before dropping her hand.

"Thank you, though. Thanks for being there for me, Ino," Sakura murmured sincerely. "Although, Naruto and I are trying to make peace with Suigetsu and Karin." Her nose wrinkled in suppressed unhappiness. "It's hard, but we have to at least try."

Ino scowled at the information, but sighed as she relented. "Okay, forehead."

* * *

The group disembarked the boat as the driver dropped the anchor, tying an anchoring rope to the small island dock as well. The island was small on the map but vast in comparison. Sakura thanked the gods that it was flat, though - there were no mountains to boast of, which meant the search would be short. The chances of finding Sasuke here were slim to none, and Sakura wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed. She couldn't pinpoint the feeling roiling in her gut, but she shoved it away.

"We'll set up camp near the dock so the driver can watch our supplies - and then we'll do recon around the island. It's unlikely that Sasuke is here, but we'll do a thorough sweep anyway. Kakashi, if you would summon your ninken. The rest of you, let's set up camp," Shikamaru ordered. The group followed the strategist's command, with Kakashi beginning the summoning jutsu. Sakura shrugged the pack off her back, rolling out her one-person sized camping tent. The sound of hammering in pegs filled the ocean air, disrupting the squalls of seabirds and sending small rodents scattering.

"Man," Naruto huffed, leaning back to swipe his forehead with the end of his orange sleeve. "It's real humid, 'ttebayo." The blond jinchuuriki unzipped his heavy jacket, revealing a white tanktop beneath. The rest of the group nodded their agreement; some shed their more oppressive layers of clothing to escape the humidity. They were far enough from the shore and sheltered by trees to conceal their encampment and protect from the waves and wind, but the farther they moved inland the hotter it got. Neji had slipped out of his sleeves, his open shirt falling to hang from his waist, Shikamaru sliding his flak jacket off to reveal a fishnet shirt beneath. Lee endured the heat with Hinata, the former had nowhere to escape from his jumpsuit, and Hinata was far too shy to shed her jacket. Kiba tore both his jacket and shirt off with gusto, unabashed and unashamed. Shino hovered in the shadows of the trees, refusing to take off even a stitch of clothing. Tenten had taken off her jacket, revealing a thin tanktop beneath, exposing sculpted arms and a pretty, slender neck. The rest of the group stripped off any excess clothing to deal with the heat.

Suigetsu followed the Konoha Eleven and stripped his shirt off, throwing it inside his tent. Karin gave him an incredulous stare, to which he shot her a nasty grin.

"Don't be jealous, Karin, that you can't take anything off. It's not my fault you don't wear anything under that shirt..." Suigetsu spluttered with outrage as Karin swiped at him, backpedaling with haste. The entire camp seemed to be in a good mood despite the heat, something they needed to keep during the hunt for Sasuke.

"We've stalled long enough," Sakura announced as Naruto poked and prodded the fire-pit they had set up, trying to get the logs to lie even with each other. "We should head out and do a sweep. I'll place the chakra seal on the camp. Everyone have their radios?" Shouts of assent greeted the kunoichi. "Alright. Group one and two, you head out. Follow the routes we planned. If any of you are in trouble and you're not close enough for the radio, send out Sai's rat. He painted one for each group for the journey. I was going to give you all flares, but that would only alert Sasuke to our presence." The first teams set out on the search, and Sakura busied herself with setting the seal on camp.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged hesitant glances as they set out into the dense forest, keeping their field of awareness broad and wide open to attack and to detect any minute traces of chakra, Kakashi scanning the area for any concealed tracks.

* * *

As the fire crackled and burned, Naruto and Sakura stared at each other from across the fire. The search was a bust, but both felt secretly relieved. They didn't know if they could handle Sasuke just yet, especially if he decided to fight. Naruto was sunburnt, and although the kyuubi's chakra sped up the healing process, his cheeks were as red as apples, as with the parts of his shoulders exposed by the tanktop. The rest of the group was worn out by both the journey and the hot sun, grateful for the cool darkness that fell upon them. They had all gathered to watch the sunset together earlier, which Sai secretly sketched by the dying light of the fire. On the drawing pad he had made an edit to the beautiful sunset - in between Naruto and Sakura, he had drawn in their lost friend. Sai was not an emotional man, but Naruto and Sakura were slowly but surely drawing him out of his shell. The evidence of this surfaced in various but small ways - through drawings, expressions, and almost-caring speech, Sai was learning how to feel again. He stared down at his drawing, feeling a strange sensation in his chest. It was as if his heart was being physically tugged, though he knew that to be impossible. The drawing elicited feelings in him that he had never experienced before.

When Sai showed the sketch to Sakura and asked her about the emotion he felt when he looked at the drawing, she turned to him with glistening eyes and told him, quietly, fervently, that what he felt was called hope.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke didn't feel better. Two days had passed, and yet there was no change. He was able to open his eyes, bloodshot as they were, but when he tried activating his sharingan the crippling pain left his breakfast all over the dirt floor. Sasuke gagged, but he'd emptied the meager contents of his stomach. He raised a trembling hand to wipe his mouth, trying to ignore the mounting hysteria. For the first time in his life, Sasuke had absolutely no idea what to do. Terror thrummed through him; there was no one to turn to now. He was utterly, completely alone.

Although Sasuke had no one to turn to for guidance, living his teenage years on the run had gained him invaluable mental skills. Thinking outside the box and being able to think quickly through pure chaos was Sasuke's strongest skill, for anyone could be an incredible fighter but fall apart under pressure. Sasuke dispelled his stricken emotions and meditated, eyelids drifting closed. When his mind was finally clear, he set on tackling the problem. The sharingan was what made Sasuke. He was talented in hand-to-hand combat, and well versed with his sword, but he needed the sharingan to discern the next attacks an opponent would use in order to block them. Sasuke couldn't use his super speed without the sharingan, either - normal vision simply couldn't keep up with the speed. His options were low, but at least he still had them. At least he wasn't blind.

Sasuke stuffed the mounting fury and fear deep, standing carefully in case it earned him another dizzy spell. When he stood without feeling the faintest traces of sickness, Sasuke grew more confident. He slipped kusanagi's holster over his shoulder, gauging the weight of his kunai pouch to ensure his weaponry was all accounted for.

He kept a firm hand on the rock wall beside him as he walked out of the cave just in case he fainted again. Sasuke peered through the gloom, frowning as he lit a match. He never realized he'd taken his bloodline limit for granted until now. The ground was unsteady, and without his sharingan Sasuke could only see as far as the match's light permitted. With mild effort he made it out into the sunlight, the tips of his fingers burnt. He wasted three matches getting out, and surmised that on his return trip he would lay down a rope.

The sun caressed Sasuke's face with gentle warmth, filtering down through the dense canopy around the cave. Sasuke enjoyed the sensation for a brief moment as he decided on the best spot to train. Choosing the densest, thickest part of the tropical forest, he strode forward, silent and careful to cover his tracks behind him. As silent as he was, however, Sasuke couldn't fool the evolved hearing of the animals around him. Birds took to the sky as he passed through, scattering into the early morning air. Sasuke kicked up quite a disturbance as he moved, something he took note of with a scowl.

Dew was still fresh on the grass, he noted, scouring the rainforest floor. He unsheathed Kusanagi faster than the eye could blink, tempered steel rasping with a lethal hiss. Sasuke sucked in a deep breath, holding it in his chest for a moment before letting go. As he breathed out he  _moved_ , cutting through the air and splicing water droplets falling from the canopy. Even without the sharingan, Sasuke was a force to be reckoned with. Swift and dangerous, he loped off nearby branches in a full circle in a handful of seconds.

As Sasuke completed the 360 degree attack, however, a rush of dizziness had him falling to his knees. He grunted in frustration, pressing a large hand to his head. He groaned in pain at the sudden, fierce pounding in his head. It felt as if someone had taken a battering ram to his skull. This time Sasuke could not ignore the worry twisting in his gut. The back of his eyeballs ached fiercely, the chakra pathways there constricting and causing the teenager immense pain. Sasuke cried out, crumpling into a ball as agony rolled through him, rendering him immobile. He staggered shakily upright, clutching onto tree trunks and half crawling back to safety, bewildered. Was he infected with a foreign disease? Had the operation gone wrong? Was he going to die? Terror gripped Sasuke then, as he clutched at the rocky wall and heaved himself along, ragged breaths falling from his lips.

He fell into the mouth of the cave, hands scrabbling for purchase in the gritty dirt. His fingers caught on pebbles and dirt dug under his pristine fingernails, but he paid it no heed as he crawled further into the darkness. Closing his eyes briefly, Sasuke recalled the path he'd taken out. With dirty, shaking hands he drew out a rope and dragged it along with him, keeping one hand on the rough wall as he progressed. The ground was rocky and rough and scraped across his knees, the heels of the palms of his hands rubbed raw. Sasuke kept silent, shifting kusanagi across his back with his shoulders. Beads of sweat ran down his face and soaked his hairline, and as he shuffled deeper into the gloom he heard the beginnings of rain. Soft, fine mist greeted his back, and cool wind rushed into the cave. Sasuke shivered, his fine hearing picking up the shifts in rainfall. The smell of rain met his nose, and with it the scent of dampened soil. What started out as several drops swiftly escalated into a torrential downpour, battering the trees and running down their leaves. The temperature dropped and Sasuke felt the chill in his bones, shuddering as another cool blast streamed into the cave. He scrambled forward, longing for the warmth of his bedroll.

* * *

Sakura stuffed her bedroll into her pack, clicking the clasps closed. She glanced over at Naruto and stifled an amused smile at the sight. The blond scratched his head, futilely trying to stuff his bedroll into his pack, but no matter how much he pushed it wouldn't fit. Sakura moved to help him when Hinata gently took the bag from Naruto's hands, sliding the halfway jammed-in bedroll out and refolding it for him. Sakura blinked, not used to sharing Naruto. She got over the slight unease stirring inside her and told herself she was just being stupid. Hinata was not going to steal Naruto away from her. Sakura knew this, but it didn't make her feel any better. She pushed a sigh down and stood, shoes scuffing against the forest floor, compacting soil beneath her feet.

It was a cold morning. Spring was starting to roll in, but the chilly days weren't over yet, not even in such a tropical place as Mist. Sakura shivered lightly, pulling on a dark rain jacket. She slipped her arms into the soft sleeves with a sigh of relief, pushing her hands through the cool fabric. She bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for her body heat to become trapped by the material. Sakura turned her eyes skyward, meeting the dense canopy above. From what little sky she glimpsed through the leafy roof, it was a dark gray. There was no hint of blue, nor the sun. She made out a dim light radiating around the darkest of clouds and slid her hands into her pockets.

As the first drops of rain filtered down through the dense canopy, Sakura pulled the hood of her jacket over her head, rasping softly against her hair. She pulled on the strings and tightened the hood to her face. She smoothed the jacket down and pulled on her pack, surveying the forest. The trees were thick and green, moss and lichen crawling up their dark trunks. It was lush and tropical, housing a variety of insects and mammals. The group had lucked out on the clearing they'd chanced upon - most of the land was overgrown with flora. She turned around to see how everyone else was doing, the hood cutting off some of her peripheral vision. Ino was arguing quite heatedly with Sai and Kiba, a fierce frown marring her features. Kiba looked amused and Sai absolutely bewildered but trying to keep up anyway. Sakura's eyes roved over the rest of the group, her heart in her throat.

She had been keeping herself so preoccupied with the little details that she had almost forgotten what they'd came for. Sakura swallowed hard, mouth as dry as cotton. Her stomach writhed anxiously and she forced down the rising bubble of hysteria, desperately trying to pull herself together. She was a trainwreck. Her mood swung violently from hopeful to desolate at the flick of a switch. Sakura felt pathetic. She wished she was back in Konoha, and she  _really_ wanted a bottle of her shishou's strongest sake to wash away her troubles. But she wasn't in Konoha. She was leagues away in unfamiliar territory and she was steadily approaching the climax of Team 7's story. This was it. This mission would make them or break them. They would either go home happy or empty-handed. Sakura didn't know if she could handle the pulverization if they didn't... oh, god. She sucked in a breath. Not knowing was better than it being over, she reasoned weakly. She didn't know what she would do. For the past years, all she and Naruto focused on was bringing Sasuke back. She and Naruto had had countless sleepless nights where all they did was talk about what would happen when Sasuke came back, how he would integrate himself back into their lives. They hadn't planned for the unspeakable.

Sakura knew, deep inside her, that this was no fairytale. Looking at her shishou's past was more than enough of a sobering reality check. There was a very good chance that they'd lost Sasuke forever. Sakura knew that. She knew that logically, the best thing to do was to pack up and move on. But she and Naruto couldn't. They were both too loving, too naive, too much of romantics. Sasuke had left gaping holes in their lives and hearts that they could never refill. Everywhere they went they felt his absence. Every empty stool and seats in restaurants was a Sasuke-shaped-space, every time they left or came back from missions there was a Sasuke-shaped-hole that Sai could never fill. Naruto and Sakura didn't know how to let go. The more Sakura lingered on the topic the more hysteria threatened to engulf her.

Neither she nor Naruto would ever be complete without Sasuke. Sakura loved him, but that was infinitesimal to their friendship, the bond they had as a team. Naruto and Sakura needed Sasuke in exactly the same way. He was irrevocably a part of them, and it was agony to consider that perhaps they weren't a part of him. Sakura would have dwelled in her thoughts longer if not for Naruto. He appeared suddenly in her line of vision, startling her.

"!" Sakura's breath left her in a stunned whoosh, staring at Naruto with wide eyes.

"We're going to bring Sasuke back, believe it!" Naruto crowed, but his grin didn't reach his eyes.

" _Don't_ , Naruto," Sakura said, and the smile fell from Naruto's face, and Sakura regretted the words as they tumbled out of her mouth. Naruto looked absolutely stricken, like she had dealt him the nastiest blow. And in a way, she had. Sakura stared at the tops of her sandals, face burning with embarrassment. 'I'm sorry' tumbled to her lips, but she couldn't find her vocal cords. Naruto looked like she'd slapped him. He turned away, the tips of his ears fire-engine red in mortification. Nearly everyone had seen their exchange, but politely acted as if nothing had happened.

Sakura pressed a hand to her face. She felt like everything was falling apart, as if her entire life was set up like dominoes and fate cruelly set them all collapsing on each other. Her relationship with Naruto was becoming strained, and she was hardly herself anymore.

* * *

Mount Nantai. This was it. The moment they'd all been waiting for - Kenta's most accurate guess of Sasuke's location inside Mist was here. It was one of the bigger islands in the chain; mountains reached skyward and brushed the clouds. There was a crescent-shaped beach carved into the island, a safe harbor for the boat. Sakura squinted through the ocean spray and gasped. She'd never seen such a stunning sight, even through the stormy weather. The ocean was rough and rocked the vessel, lapping against the sides of the boat. As the group drew closer and closer to Mount Nantai, Sakura found herself glancing at Naruto. He was bright and cheerful as always, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of them. His sunny smile seemed forced, though, and his exuberance was fragile. Sakura caught his eyes and they looked forlorn, disproportionate from the excited display he put on for everyone. Naruto couldn't fool Sakura, though. She knew him too well.

Sakura sucked in a breath, knowing she had to apologize. Naruto still hadn't gotten over what she'd said to him, and with one look she knew the words had slipped under his skin and sunk deep into his heart. Naruto seemed stronger than he had ever been, but Sakura knew it was a facade. Naruto was at his weakest. He was so fragile she felt he would shatter at any moment. She knew this about Naruto because she felt the exact same way. His display of bravado and confidence was only a mask. Sakura wondered how no one else could see it. It was so obvious; the grim line of his mouth when he thought no one was looking, his wistful blue eyes dark and rimmed with sorrow. She saw it in his step, the way he carried himself. It was the subtlest of changes, but Sakura caught them. His shoulders angled downwards, sloping ever so slightly. His grins and smiles were wider than normal, and although the corners of his eyes crinkled, Sakura could tell they weren't genuine. She looked at Naruto, caught in the circle of their friends, desperately trying not to crack his composure. Before she knew it her feet carried her forward, and she found herself in front of him.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," Naruto beamed, but he was a little bit too cheerful.

"Can I talk to you?" Sakura asked, her voice low. She kept her tone purposeful and calm, probing him with her eyes. Naruto's throat bobbed as he swallowed and he nodded, stepping away from the group. Hinata's eyes followed them all the way around the boat until she couldn't see them anymore.

Sakura rocked back and forth on her heels, unsure of what to say. The confidence that had driven her just moments ago scattered to the wind, lost in the wake of the boat behind them. Naruto was silent for once, deep blue eyes assessing her without any pretense of fake cheerfulness. He dropped all pretense the moment they were alone, knowing that while he had everyone else fooled, he couldn't slip it past someone who was a part of him. He was serious, the corners of his mouth flat. Sakura plucked up the courage to meet his eyes, and when she did, they burned through her. Sakura felt the heated force of his gaze, ablaze in quiet determination and passion. Naruto wore his heart on his sleeve, and in the early morning light, Sakura saw it. She read him like an open book. The drive in him was unshakable. The fire in his eyes was untamable, wild. Sakura felt washed out standing before him.

"Naruto, I..." Sakura started, her words unsure. Naruto stared at her in silence. He didn't twitch a single muscle, and Sakura couldn't discern what he was feeling. She tried again, licking her chapped lips. "I'm sorry, Naruto." Naruto regarded her, searching. It was unlike any other look Sakura had experienced before. With Sasuke, it had always been scathing, full of contempt and utter scorn. With Sai, it was a mixture of something almost judgmental and a mixture of new, unidentifiable hunger. When Ino did it she was unraveling Sakura at the seams, picking apart Sakura's barriers and defenses and unearthing the vulnerable part of her that she tried to keep hidden away. But with Naruto... it was so open. There were no expectations there. Naruto stared right back for what seemed like hours, searching, hunting. Sakura felt so vulnerable and exposed. It was as if all her thoughts were laid bare for his perusal, and while it was always the other way around - Sakura reading Naruto - she hadn't known it felt so personal. She felt like Naruto was seeing her deepest, darkest secrets. Naruto cleared his throat then, snapping her out of her thought process. He smiled, small and slow, and he opened his arms for her. Sakura took the first step toward him, he took the second. She leaned against his chest, dimly noting he was much taller than her now. Sakura's arms traveled around his waist, and she buried her head into his jacket, breathing deeply. Naruto smelled like a campfire and a little bit of sweat, and she felt oddly at peace in his embrace. Naruto's arms wound around her back and it was a little awkward, his arms balancing strangely around hers as he hugged her back.

"You and me, Sakura-chan," Naruto said gruffly, as if he were trying not to cry. He breathed out into her hair, fluttering coral strands. "We're doing it the right way this time, bringing him back. Together." At his words Sakura gave a little laugh, coming out in a strangled hiccup as she suppressed the urge to weep. He was so forgiving.

* * *

They had swept the island all around the mountain, careful to mask their chakra and speak in low, hushed tones over the receivers. They left summons when they got out of range, and leapt silently through the trees. What they weren't expecting was the wildlife to throw up the alarms. Birds took the sky with every snap of a twig, cawing out in danger.

"Everyone, try to be as quiet as possible. The birds panic when we make noise... we could be alerting Sasuke to our position," Shikamaru ordered through the mic, and as hushed agreements filtered in, Sasuke slept unaware deep in his cave.

Sakura crept through the undergrowth, Sai's inked rats scurrying along in front of her, marking the best path. Sai followed closely behind her, absolutely silent. The only sound they made was their sandals brushing against the grass, slinking through the grass like panthers. Naruto was only a handful of paces behind, letting some of the kyuubi's fox instincts take over. His whiskers grew more prominent, eyes scarlet. Naruto was utterly and completely quiet, his enhanced hearing and smell picking up the environment around them. Not even his feet made any sound against the grass, and Naruto looked completely feral. He loped behind Sai and Sakura on all fours, his nails lengthened into claws.

All was going swimmingly until Tenten cursed and free-fell. She'd accidentally grabbed a hold of a weak branch, giving a loud snap as she fell with it. Neji was above her in a flash, plucking her from the air and maneuvering them to the next branch.

"Thanks, Neji," Tenten panted, heart hammering in her chest. Neji had saved Tenten from a nasty fall, but they couldn't do anything about the branch. The reaction was instantaneous. Unfortunately for them, they disturbed a large collection of tropical birds, who took the skies shrieking. Tenten cursed quietly, eyes wide as she and her teammates stared at each other.

Deep inside the cave, Sasuke frowned slightly in his sleep, slowly coming to consciousness. His eyelids slid upwards, revealing ebony irises. He shifted, staring blearily at the rocky ceiling for several moments as his brain fully awakened. Sasuke sat up slowly, eyes darting around the cave as faint bird cries reached his ears. Sasuke froze - a whole flock was on the panicked move, which meant something big was in the forest. Sasuke reached for his kusanagi in a flash, swinging it across his back. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood, tying his weapons pouch around his thigh.

He crept slowly down the rocky path, ensuring his chakra was completely masked. Sasuke came to the mouth of the cave, concealing himself in the dark shadows as he glanced at the sky. Birds were in flight, still calling out in terror. Their cries had already roused the rest, however, and Sasuke couldn't find the source of disturbance. If only he had the sharingan! But he couldn't risk trying to activate it for the immense pain was enough to incapacitate him.

Sasuke ducked through the trees, trying to locate the source of the disturbance. If only he had his sharingan!

Sasuke sucked in a breath, heightened senses fanning out to assess the forest. The immediate area was calm and undisturbed, which soothed him. Sasuke pondered staying in the cave, but if there did happen to be enemy ninja about, he would only be trapped. He had to ensure that whatever passing through wasn't a threat, which he would take care of if it was.

He crept through the forest floor, careful not to make a sound. Even if he couldn't use his sharingan, Sasuke was thankful for the pristine vision he now had. With his eyes, he'd only been able to see blurred shapes and blobs of color, but now he saw everything in vivid detail. He slid his katana out of its sheath, knowing that the use of speed would only tax on his chakra. Sasuke closed his eyes and fanned his awareness out, searching for telltale signs of chakra. There! A lingering burst made him freeze, pinpointing its exact location. The residual chakra was swiftly fading, but it was enough to tell Sasuke that there was a powerful shinobi in the area, if not more. He couldn't sense the user, and that worried him slightly. With the sharingan it would have been no problem, but now... the ninja was as good as he in concealment. He didn't know if there were more of them, or if he or she was on their own. Sasuke slunk toward the location of where he'd felt the chakra pulse, scanning around the trees and listening.

* * *

Using Byakugan and concealing the chakra emitted was a tricksome task, and only few members of the Hyuuga clan could execute the technique successfully. Neji was one of them, possibly the best in clan history. However, that didn't make it any less difficult. It was arduous and required that all his concentration shift towards the technique. Neji was thankful for Tenten at his side, ready to defend. With precision honed by years of experience, Neji cloaked and activated his Byakugan at the same time. Satisfied he'd been successful, he began to scan the area for foreign chakra signatures. He started at the back, at his blind spot, sweeping around slowly to a near 360 degree field of vision. He spotted the forms of Hinata's teammates. Though invisible to the average shinobi senses, no one could ever fool the Byakugan or Sharingan. The two powerful dojutsu could spot chakra no matter how well they were hidden. The only exception to this technique was to use a genjutsu on the person searching for you, which was a near impossible feat. Neji stiffened at the centerfield of his vision, eyes narrowing in concentration. There! Slightly off to the right, covering his chakra, was Uchiha Sasuke, infamous renegade shinobi. Neji's gritted his teeth and catalogued the exact direction, motioning to Tenten that he'd found who they were searching for. Neji paused. Something was off - there was no chakra in Sasuke's eyes. It was obvious he'd sensed an intruder, due to Tenten's fall, as Sasuke was actively hunting for them, but he was not using his sharingan. Neji didn't have an explanation as to why Sasuke wouldn't use his bloodline limit... unless he couldn't. Neji deactivated his Byakugan, careful to keep a thick shield around his eyes as the chakra dissipated.

"Tenten," Neji whispered, milky eyes fixated on hers. "We may have an advantage. Sasuke doesn't have his sharingan activated... it's a bit of a guess but I don't think he can use it for whatever reason. It might be the upperhand we need to turn the tides in our favor," Neji whispered, and Tenten nodded in agreement. They crept forward after informing Lee. Lee had watched the entire spectacle unfold, knowing that he was near useless on the rescue mission. Lee couldn't use chakra; born without it, he was destined for the civilian life until Gai had shown him otherwise. Lee wished he could be of service, but he couldn't sense what everyone else could, his only talent was his speed and strength. "Lee," Neji murmured. "I've found Sasuke. Can you inform the others? Tenten and I are going to try an ambush." Lee was about to protest, but Neji held up a hand. "It doesn't look like he can use his Sharingan, so we should be alright for a little while at least. I'm not completely sure he can't use it, but it seems very probable." Lee nodded his assent, off like a shot through the trees, hunting for the closest teammates.

Neji and Tenten took off through the trees, kunai unsheathed. Tenten was determined to make up for her tumble in the forest, her eyes fixated on their target.

* * *

Sasuke moved toward that chakra pulse, even though the residual tendrils had faded away. He stalked forward, keeping his ears alert in case they were close. It was in this fashion that he narrowly avoided impalement by whizzing kunai, all lodging deep into the trees behind him. Sasuke pushed back in surprise; he hadn't sensed their movement or heard the weapons. Alarm ran through him as he flipped backward, sending back his own kunai towards his assailant. He still couldn't sense their chakra, fervently wishing for his dojutsu, avoiding the deadly kunai that hurtled past him into the trees.

Even without the sharingan, Sasuke was an incredibly formidable opponent. Through years of enhancing drugs and strict, grilling training, Sasuke was honed into the ultimate shinobi. He was incredibly talented, adept at learning new techniques, and with the arsenal of the sharingan he was near unstoppable. Sasuke had focused on nothing else but training his entire life away from Konoha, which turned him into the deadly ninja he was today. Sasuke deftly dodged a slew of spiked chains and kunai, his mind faintly recalling one kunoichi who carried such a variety of weapons. Anger thrummed low in his stomach, catching fire. Konoha shinobi. Sasuke's lips twisted in a soundless snarl as he sent out a shockwave of chakra, careening into the shinobi in vicinity. Neither Tenten nor Neji was prepared for the assault, and their concealments were stripped away in the blast.

There were two! Sasuke, faster than thought, sent several shuriken hurtling towards the source of all the deadly weapons, delighting in the soft grunt of pain. He'd hit his target, but the wound was probably only a passing nick. Scowling at how far he'd fallen, Sasuke brought out the ninjutsu, done playing games. He devastated hundreds of yards of rainforest with a single katon, blowing fire everywhere the ninja turned. Cruel satisfaction flooded him, and Sasuke smirked, sending immense fireballs toward his opponents.

However, out of the black smoke came a staggering attack. Neji lunged into the fray, his palms seeking to strike and block Sasuke's chakra pathways. Sasuke narrowly managed to avoid the assault in time, noting with a silent curse that the Byakugan was activated and that Neji could see Sasuke's every movement and even predict them. Neji launched forward into a powerful attack, Tenten at his rear, flinging every weapon imaginable at Sasuke. Sasuke defended himself with practiced ease, but weariness was beginning to catch up to him from his injuries and lack of meal.

Neji flickered after Sasuke with crippling speed, dodging Sasuke's every jutsu with his protection of chakra. Sasuke was fighting a losing battle. Neji got too close with one of his attacks, and Sasuke, acting on pure survivalist instinct, activated his sharingan without thinking. Intense pain seared the Uchiha, and he let out a strangled yell, falling away from Neji as his pain-filled yells rent the air, hands pressed against his burning eyes. Sasuke swiftly teleported before Neji could snatch him, collapsing into a heap as he barely restrained a howl. Agony seized his body and he writhed upon the stone floor, clutching his head in terror. What the hell was going on?

The pain was searing, rendering Sasuke incapable of moving. He crawled forward, forgetting about dignity and pride, hands scrabbling for purchase on the earthen floor, dragging his body toward his bedroll. He had to pause several times and wait for the pain to subside enough to start moving again, hissing in agony with each movement. Every time he pushed forward it jarred his head, sending hot fire surging down his chakra pathways each time. Sasuke continued his arduous crawl to his bedroll, barely restraining screams behind his teeth, hands trembling. His face had gone as white as snow in pain, eyes squeezed shut. He was afraid to even open them, on the verge of unconsciousness.

Sasuke fought to stay awake, biting his nails into his palms in an effort to keep from succumbing to the void. He barely felt the crescents carved into his skin; the bite of his nails paled in comparison to the absolute agony in his eyes. He let out a rattling breath, wincing as he moved his head, setting his head pounding. Worry gripped him then - was this how he was going to spend the rest of his life? Crippled from using the sharingan, unable to fight?

* * *

Sakura and Naruto raced to Sasuke's last appearance, deaf to the shouts spilling out of their radios, hellbent on their singular goal. Lee had caught up to Kiba's cell first, panting through the radios as he informed everyone of Sasuke's whereabouts and Neji and Tenten's location. They were engaged in battle, Lee had said, and it sounded like Sasuke wasn't able to use sharingan.

Neither of them knew that Sasuke had already vanished, whisked away by the smoke and wind. But they thundered through the forest, blind to the disturbance they left in their path; wildlife shrieking, birds taking to flight in panic. Sakura ducked beneath branches and slid under vines and glanced at her teammate. Naruto loped slightly ahead of her on all fours, feral and graceful. There was a slight glowing of red chakra around his clawed hands, but no tails. Naruto lost himself to the fox's instinct, hunting for Neji and Tenten by scent. He was lost to human reason, and it was only the familiarity of Sakura's chakra that he didn't take her out as a threat. Sakura was the only person who the kyuubi trusted almost as much as Naruto - the two were blood-bonded, something that had occurred on an A-ranked mission deep in the land of the mist. Sakura had sacrificed Inner-Sakura to the kyuubi, who in return had poured his healing abilities into what should have been a fatal wound. She and Naruto were now linked for the rest of their lives, something no one else knew but the two of them.

Sakura ran alongside Naruto, her mind devoid of anything but Sasuke. She raced through the underbrush, feeling strangely calm in her mind even though adrenaline thrummed and spiked inside her, making her pulse race and her pupils dilate. The moment they'd been waiting for for years was finally here, and Sakura felt peaceful. She was nervous, of course, but her mind wasn't the scattered, chaotic mess she thought it would be. There was silence in her head, no self-doubt or fear present. She and Naruto were together now, and together, they were unstoppable.

They tore up the ground behind them, a well-oiled machine, Sakura easily keeping pace with Naruto. He ran like hell, like he was on the run from the devil, and Sakura simply kept up. Nothing or nobody could leave her behind now. She wasn't that weak, smitten, thirteen-year-old girl anymore - she was full of talent, strength, and self-assurance. This time, she had Naruto's back. He'd always had hers, but now she was reciprocating. Sasuke was just as important to her as he was to Naruto, and even if she and the Uchiha didn't have the brotherly bond that he and Naruto did... he was just as important to her.

They leaped into the clearing at the same time, skidding on ash and burnt soil, scanning for any hint of their lost teammate. Sakura's eyes fell upon Neji and Tenten, questioning, cataloguing the immense damage done to the forest. Naruto growled beside her, his head snapping gracefully from side to side as he loped around her, and Tenten eyed him somewhat fearfully. Naruto snarled at the two unfamiliars, completely feral. He pirouetted in a circle around Sakura, protecting, searching for any sign of his teammate. He was able to pick up the scent, but the trail ran cold at Sasuke's teleport.

"Naruto," Sakura soothed, trying to placate her teammate as she reeled from shock herself. Right now, her first priority was not to interrogate Neji and Tenten on Sasuke's whereabouts, but to calm Naruto down before he tore anyone's throat out. Sakura reached out with her calming, healing touch, infusing her chakra into Naruto's stomach, letting the chakra travel directly through the seal and into the kyuubi. Neji watched the entire process with the Byakugan, something that didn't escape Sakura's notice. She hoped he wouldn't ask questions, for at her chakra-infused touch, any trace of the kyuubi melted away. Naruto's eyes dimmed back to blue, claws retracting and his whiskers becoming less prominent. He straightened up from his defensive crouch, towering over Sakura at his full height. He shook his head, slightly disoriented, nodding his thanks at his teammate. Neji carefully filed away the information for later discussion - it was the first time Neji had seen anyone calm Naruto down without a seal, and if Sakura wasn't around to prevent his next half-transformation, Naruto was a possible liability. "What happened?" Sakura asked as Naruto recovered himself.

"We were fighting - and Sasuke teleported. He must have a base on the island. He didn't even sense our arrival until we attacked. I'm pretty sure he is unable to use the sharingan... he seemed to be in great pain when he tried to activate his dojutsu. I got too close in one of my attacks and he activated it in instinctive defense, but the flow of chakra through his eyes seemed to cause him great pain. He teleported right after." Neji explained, meeting Sakura's gaze levelly. Sakura simply nodded, and Neji turned to scan the rest of the island with his Byakugan. He suddenly cursed. "Damn! Sasuke put seals all over the valleys and mountains. They're chakra-blocking... I can't use my Byakugan to penetrate the soil and rock. He's brilliant, I'll give him that. There are too many blocked places for us to investigate..." Sakura only nodded, taking it in stride.

"We'll scout the perimeters of all the blocked areas. If Sasuke was so pained by trying to activate his sharingan that he had to teleport, it must be extremely serious. He's bound to slip up if he falls unconscious. Sasuke doesn't just up and abandon fights - he stays until the job is done. He had a pretty serious intent of harming you. The forest is decimated. He wouldn't let shinobi pass through unchecked if he gave up his position like that... the pain must have disabled him too much to fight. There's a chance his chakra signature might escape. Sasuke wouldn't let any threat around him, especially if he can't use the sharingan," Sakura surmised, and she was almost surprised to see Neji readily agree.

"It's a good plan," he stated. "Did everyone hear that?" Neji asked the radios, everyone replying in affirmative. Neji began ordering everyone around the impenetrable spots, forming an effective barrier around the mountains and valleys. Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were assigned to the scorched clearing. Kakashi offered to search with his sharingan, but Sakura quickly shot down the notion.

"The sharingan is taxing - one of us is bound to notice Sasuke sooner or later. You'll need to be at your full strength for a possible confrontation - you're the only dojutsu user here able to take on Sasuke in a fight if he manages to use his sharingan. We need you at tip-top shape, sensei, but thank you for the offer," Sakura smiled, ignoring Kakashi's grumble on how he'd asked her to call him sempai instead.

Sakura shut her eyes and expanded her field of awareness, taking even breaths as she concentrated. Extremely precise chakra control had gifted her incredible chakra detection - she could pick up on any tendril of chakra immediately, even better so than Karin. It was a trait she kept hidden. Years of honing her precision under the tutelage of Tsunade had fine-tuned her radar even wider. Sakura could virtually pick up anyone within radius, their status, and minute details like chakra fluctuations.

She reached out to Inner Sakura, deep inside Naruto's seal. She asked the kyuubi to guide her through the forest, for the most precise chakra detection required the most concentration. Both she and Naruto froze, locked in a stare, as Kakashi watched with a suspicious gleam in his eye. Naruto's claws grew and his eyes glowed red, the grooves on his face growing more prominent. Unlike before, however, Naruto didn't descend into a survivalist, feral state. He stood, perfectly still, locked in a staring contest with his teammate. Naruto gave a quick, sharp nod, and then he and Sakura turned around at the same time. Kakashi watched somewhat uneasily; he'd never seen the likes of it before. Their movements were mirrored, exact... it was almost as if one mind was controlling both bodies. Naruto shifted and Sakura did too, her eyes closed in utter concentration.

No one but Naruto and Sakura knew of the deep bond between them. The Council would consider the arrangement dangerous, not to mention the questions it would raise. They'd returned quietly from their disastrous mission, entirely changed but nobody knew. Kakashi was a brilliant man. He knew there was something running beneath the surface, but now wasn't the time to ask. He stayed silent, tucking away their mirrored movements as they started their sweep.

Kakashi detected something entirely fishy going on. Whatever Naruto did, Sakura copied flawlessly, perpetually in sync. They were never off from their mirror images, and both were entirely silent. Kakashi swallowed the questions in his throat, keeping an eye out for danger around the two. Naruto looked dangerously wild, but instead of letting go to the fox's instincts he seemed to be entirely himself. It was some kind of link between them, Kakashi decided, but there was no chakra connecting them. He briefly wondered if they were connected through another dimension, another plane. The idea was not impossible. The kyuubi was the strongest of the tailed beasts, the most powerful. The demon certainly had the power to cross dimensions, and bring others along with him with ease.

Kakashi was beginning to lose hope several hours later when Sakura gave a sudden start, jerking out of her eerie, synced trance she had with Naruto. Naruto froze the same time she did, and Sakura pulled free from the bond, off like a shot, not bothering to offer any explanation. Naruto transformed the second she broke their strange connection, and he swung around, following her a heartbeat later. Kakashi was left to catch up. He used a burst of super speed, shocked at the events unfolding. What in kami's name was going on between his two students? They had never been so connected.

Sakura crashed through the forest, feeling a bit wild from her continued connection to the kyuubi. His feral, baser instincts had blended with her own, giving her a heightened reaction that continued even after she broke free. Sakura offered no explanation, so singularly focused on her target she didn't notice Naruto beside her, loping, his pace exactly matching hers.

* * *

Deep inside the cave, his scent hidden by the Waterfall, Sasuke lulled into unconsciousness. He groaned, fighting to keep awake, but his eyes felt no better. They still seared like the fires of hell, even thought it had been hours. For hours he'd laid upon the bedroll, feverish, unable to move as the agony had kept him pinned in place, fixated like a dead butterfly impaled with a pin. The pain threshold had been crossed an hour ago, and Sasuke could no longer fight his body's instincts. He desperately needed sleep to repair to the best of his body's abilities, and his body refused to be denied that healing any longer.

Sasuke didn't realize as he passed into the void, drifting seamlessly into calming, soothing blackness, his clenched fists falling limp as he succumbed. He did not notice his hold on his chakra concealment slip, he didn't notice the sudden spike of chakra sent through the cave as unconsciousness rendered him unable to mask it. Fresh blood dripped off his fingernails, testament to the extreme pain and how long he'd endured trying to keep awake.

* * *

It was in that moment Sakura had detected him, a flicker deep in the mountain, hope setting her aflame. She found the cave with ease, using her chakra to light a path. Her eyes fell upon a thick, soot-stained rope lying in the cavern, following the fraying line up to the chamber Sasuke was housed in. She could barely hear anything above the pounding roar of a waterfall, feeling Naruto at her back. For once, she mused, he was watching her back, not the other way around. The thought didn't bring a smile to her lips, not now. She'd detected Sasuke was unconscious from the brief spike. Her predictions supported her hypothesis. Sasuke had given into pain, which had then given up his position.

She scrambled forward, stunned, her throat dry and her eyes wide. Sakura fought the gloom, a beacon of light even without her glowing hands. She stood out in the darkness, like a target in the night. Naruto was no better. Sakura gave a little cry as she spotted Sasuke's dusty feet, unable to believe the sight before her. She stumbled over the uneven cave floor, unable to filter any thoughts. Naruto gave a similar, strangled shout, and Sakura's feet seemed to slowly melt into the floor. Naruto shot off like a rocket, falling to his knees beside the fallen Uchiha. Sakura snapped out of her trance when Kakashi appeared behind her, touching her shoulder gently. Sakura flinched before she began moving again, falling roughly to the ground beside Naruto.

Their team was complete at last. It wasn't how she'd imagined their reunion, shattered to pieces on a dusty cave floor in the middle of mist country. Sasuke was deathly pallid, life bleached from his skin in pain, his face gaunt and hollow, looking more starved than healthy. She hadn't expected their reunion to be so broken. Sakura reached out a trembling hand, unable to believe it. She barely brushed against the skin of Sasuke's arm, surprised at the clamminess of his skin. She noted the beads of sweat upon his forehead, the downturned grimace of his mouth, the sharp, angular planes of his face. He looked starved in every way. Even in sleep he looked haunted, like the ghosts of the past clung stubbornly to him. Sakura knew the image would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe Sasuke was here, in the flesh, and she reached out for Naruto's hand. He gripped her palm a little too firmly, staring at Sasuke desolately. Sakura brushed away her thoughts and pressed a trembling hand to Sasuke's cool forehead, his forehead too hot. Healing chakra encircled her hands, glowing, and both Naruto and Kakashi watched in utter captivation as Sakura assessed Sasuke, her eyes closed, glowing hands traveling gently around his torso. She looked like an angel in that moment, they silently agreed. Her hands were made for healing.

Sakura banished herself away, dragging out her medical, clinical side. She forgot everything but the fact that Sasuke was human, and he needed her help. She made his name disappear, cataloguing his present injuries. She could see previously fractured bones, showing evidence of remodeling, scanning his damaged chakra pathways, checking for anything dangerous lurking beneath the facade of his skin. Sakura continued her methodical sweep, tendrils of hair falling into her face as she worked over him. She didn't heal, simply cataloguing. There was nothing life-threatening going on, but as she swept up the sides of his neck and up his face, she couldn't contain the horrified gasp.

Sasuke's eyes were horribly damaged - the pathways. She noted with mounting horror that the eyes were not his. They were transplanted, and Sakura fought to keep down the bile rising in her throat. Her face paled in revulsion but she pressed onward, hands trembling at the botched operation. The transplant was not done by someone with good medical experience. They had left several veins unconnected, and Sakura didn't know if she could salvage them. She explored the chakra pathways and tried not to shake too badly. Sasuke was nearly blind. If he used the sharingan one more time... it would be his last. Sakura wondered how he'd managed to survive with the excrutiating agony, much less fight with it. He was malnourished and Sakura could see the remnants of heavy drug abuse lingering in his system, horrified by the state Sasuke's body was in internally. She thought about his back, some of the muscles healed wrong. She wondered how many had been healed by Karin - Karin's method was effective but extremely crude. It would never replace a medic's healing. Sakura opened her eyes, pulling her trembling hands from Sasuke's head. She swallowed, blinking as she realized the rest of the team had crowded into the cave.

It took her several minutes to pull her composure together, but she was falling apart.

"I need to operate," Sakura finally said, speaking so quietly they barely heard her. Life had flown from her in that moment, leaving her as white as the sheen of Sasuke's skin. "Tomorrow. We can't head back for Konoha until I conduct the operation." Naruto tried to rouse more out of Sakura, but she would not speak. Fear lanced down her spine. What if she botched the operation? What if Sasuke's eyes were unsalvageable? Sakura calmed enough to raise her bleached fingers to one of the lapels on her vest, fumbling with the buttons. She withdrew a syringe, tapping at the glass. She loathed to add a sedative into Sasuke's bloodstream, considering his past drug use and his stricken body, but the risk of Sasuke activating his sharingan under duress made the sedative necessary. Sakura withdrew the needle, pocketing the used shot as she stood on shaky legs. Naruto had never seen her so horrified. "We need to move him. We need to get him back to Tazuna's, now." Sakura didn't say another word, falling into Naruto's shaking embrace.

Sakura felt catatonic with the extreme shock, giving in to full-body tremors as Naruto held her. He was shaking too, hot, pregnant tears sliding down his face as he wept. Naruto cried openly, tears cutting searing paths down his cheeks as he enclosed Sakura in his hold, burying his wet face into her hair, reeling from the shock. Sakura did not cry, rocking back and forth in her teammate's arms. She held him to her tightly, sick to her stomach at the trauma she'd just witnessed. Nausea overwhelmed her senses and she clenched Naruto's jacket beneath her fists.

Kakashi felt frozen in time, mirroring his former students' grief. He couldn't fathom the bone-deep fright on Sakura's face, but he guessed that Sasuke's prognosis was grim. Sakura had refused to say another word, and Kakashi didn't blame her. He swallowed his emotions and straightened, clearing his throat as he blinked away the unshed, burning tears. He began to instruct the group of ninja around him, swallowing his grief and pocketing his turmoil in order to lead. The group needed a leader now more than ever, and Kakashi was determined to lead them. He would not fail Team 7 a second time. He wouldn't let them become tragedy. Kakashi refused to let them repeat and live his own past. Hope was too late for his team, but there was still time for Team 7.


	10. Chapter 10

It was in that moment Sakura had detected him, a flicker deep in the mountain, hope setting her aflame. She found the cave with ease, using her chakra to light a path. Her eyes fell upon a thick, soot-stained rope lying in the cavern, following the fraying line up to the chamber Sasuke was housed in. She could barely hear anything above the pounding roar of a waterfall, feeling Naruto at her back. For once, she mused, he was watching her back, not the other way around. The thought didn't bring a smile to her lips, not now. She'd detected Sasuke was unconscious from the brief spike. Her predictions supported her hypothesis. Sasuke had given into pain, which had then given up his position.

She scrambled forward, stunned, her throat dry and her eyes wide. Sakura fought the gloom, a beacon of light even without her glowing hands. She stood out in the darkness, like a target in the night. Naruto was no better. Sakura gave a little cry as she spotted Sasuke's dusty feet, unable to believe the sight before her. She stumbled over the uneven cave floor, unable to filter any thoughts. Naruto gave a similar, strangled shout, and Sakura's feet seemed to slowly melt into the floor. Naruto shot off like a rocket, falling to his knees beside the fallen Uchiha. Sakura snapped out of her trance when Kakashi appeared behind her, touching her shoulder gently. Sakura flinched before she began moving again, falling roughly to the ground beside Naruto.

But there was something eerily wrong. Sasuke lay unnaturally still, his visage paler than snow. Sakura froze, choking on breath, unable to meet Naruto's eyes. She reeled in silence, not wanting to face the truth. She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten, hoping, fervently praying, desperately wishing. She opened her eyes again, taking a second to adjust to the light, seeing bursts of color across her vision. With a trembling, pallid hand, Sakura felt for a pulse. There was none. She tried to summon chakra to her fingertips, but her hand shook too badly and her concentration was shot. She sucked in a shaky breath, unable to keep calm under the pressure. Naruto started realizing that something had gone terribly wrong and he watched his teammate with bated breath, puzzled at her erratic behavior.

Sakura tried thrice more before she could accurately use her medical ninjutsu, closing her eyes as she sunk her chakra into his system. It was no use. Everywhere she felt, everywhere she searched, there was no activity. Sasuke's body was as lifeless as it looked. Sakura felt ascending horror steep in her chest, crashing in her ears, her heart pounding a staccato beat. Her vision grew blurry and black, her breath coming in short, frantic bursts, her whole frame shaking.

"No!" she suddenly screamed,

and sat bolt upright in her bedroll.

* * *

Sakura stumbled upright, shoving the heavy blankets off of her, teetering to the bathroom, white-knuckled grip threatening to crack the porcelain of the toilet seat in two. She barely lowered to her knees before the toilet, bruising her kneecaps as she collapsed on the linoleum before she retched, emptying the contents of her dinner into the clear water. Her stomach heaved again and she groaned, lightheaded and extremely nauseous. She couldn't shake the image of Sasuke's lifeless body from her head - the paleness of his face, his sunken cheekbones, his skin taut and slightly waxen. His hands and feet had turned a pale, sickly blue, his eyes sunken into his skull. Sakura encountered death everyday - she worked alongside death, and sometimes she administered it. But this was different. All the times she'd thought about Sasuke, she'd never thought about him dying. It had never been a possibility in her mind.

She retched again, but her stomach was empty, and as her dry stomach heaved she felt gentle fingers gathering her hair and pulling it away from her face. She coughed, grateful for whoever was behind her, rubbing her back and holding her hair.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Kakashi asked her, his voice low as to not disturb the others.

"I'm fine," she answered shakily, sitting on her knees for another minute before she unsteadily rose, giving the toilet a flush. Kakashi released her hair, and Sakura took over, swiftly threading it into a ponytail. She held the sink and quickly washed her face, grabbing her toothbrush and smearing a chunk of toothpaste before meeting Kakashi's eyes in the mirror. He hovered behind her, fatherly concern in his eyes. He patiently waited for her to rinse out her mouth and dry her face before he pressed her again.

"Are you sure?" the copy-nin asked, and Sakura gave in.

"I had a nightmare about Sasuke," she admitted quietly. "I dreamt we found him in the cave... but he was dead." Kakashi's expression didn't change - as much as Sakura could tell behind his mask, at least.

"He's alive," Kakashi reassured her, his voice a little gruff. A strange protectiveness settled over him at the look of distress in Sakura's eyes, feeling the need to protect her rise within him. He shook his head, dismissing the notion as quickly as it had come. Sakura was more than capable of looking after herself physically and emotionally. She was seventeen, held her own apartment, and went on dangerous solo missions and came back unscathed. Kakashi reached out and placed a hand on his female student's shoulder, trying to show his support. Sakura smiled at him through the mirror, and Kakashi felt a bit guilty about never having focused training with her like he had with Naruto and Sasuke. He made up his resolve then to teach her everything he could, and bequeath his mother's personal belongings to her. He was unfit for parenting anyway, nor could he honestly see himself settling down to raise children. Kakashi had no kin to leave his possessions to, and figured that his former students could be considered family.

Sakura raised her hand to close over his, squeezing it warmly. She still looked a little queasy and pale, but Kakashi knew she was feeling better.

"Get some rest," he murmured, "you'll need it for tomorrow." Sakura's eyes darkened a little at the task before her. Granted, she had Ino and Hinata with her, but that made the feat no less easier. Sakura would need all her concentration and strength for what she hoped to achieve. She left the bathroom, Kakashi following close behind her as he hit the lights. She crept back into her bedroll, easing herself beneath the covers, gritting her teeth as she tried to ignore the roiling of her stomach. The material rasped against her sleeping clothes as she shifted, trying to lull her body to sleep. She couldn't wipe the images of Sasuke's prone and frozen body from her eyes, his bloodless face across her closed eyelids. Sakura groaned quietly, pulling the blanket over her head, trying to focus on steady breathing. It didn't work. She couldn't suppress the haunting visage of Sasuke's dead face, make her stomach lurch unpleasantly. With a heavy sigh she flowed chakra through her brain, coaxing the chemicals there to make her fall into an instant sleep.

* * *

The room in which all the shinobi had slept in previously was cleared of everything but medical supplies, Sasuke's body laid out in the middle. He still looked pale, his chest rising and falling faintly as he breathed, the only indicator he was alive. His cheeks were hollow and sunken, testament to his roughing it out in the forest. Sakura smoothed his bangs away from his eyes, careful to keep her touch clinical. She grabbed an alcohol swab and rubbed at the inside of Sasuke's forearm, taking the needle Ino handed her, flicking away the air bubbles with a practiced finger. The needle slid in without a hitch, depositing the fluid into Sasuke's bloodstream. Sakura was still at loathe to use drugs with his battered system, but he would need the anesthetic for the operation.

Ino and Hinata sat beside her, ready to take orders. Kakashi lounged beside the door, keeping guard just in case Sasuke managed to wake up. Although the odds of that happening were statistically improbable, Kakashi refused to take chances. He was the only one that could forcefully subdue Sasuke efficiently with his sharingan.

Sakura positioned herself behind his head, folding her legs beneath her as she took the sides of Sasuke's forehead into her hands, her fingers curving gently against the slope of his face. She closed her eyes, green chakra glowing around her hands as she focused. She travelled deep into Sasuke's system, ensuring he was out cold and that the anesthetic was working. Satisfied, she probed Sasuke's chakra channels next, exploring, making note of the location of all the damaged pathways. Sakura badly wanted to fix the muscles in his back, but knew Sasuke's eyes were her top priority. She drew in a rattled breath, releasing it long and smooth as she prepared to operate.

Thin, barely discerinble chakra scalpels flickered to life in her hands, bypassing Sasuke's eye and reaching deep into the ruptured blood vessels, carefully bringing and stitching them together. It was a delicate process. Sakura had to focus on not cutting through the vessels more than they were already severed, knowing she couldn't let slivers of them be sliced off. She had to keep the chakra scalpels thin and the pressure light enough so they would only nudge the vessels toward each other, while her other hand sped up mitosis to rapidly advance the healing process. Sakura needed to repair the blood vessels before focusing on the chakra pathways, the real problem, and just the simple concept of reconnecting and healing blood vessels would take a good amount of time.

An hour later, Sakura pulled away, looking tired but satisfied. She gratefully accepted the glass of water Hinata passed her way, taking deep gulps to slake her thirst. Sasuke's left eye had completely repaired blood vessels, freshly healed, awaiting the second half of healing for its blood vessels. However, Sakura needed a bite to eat to replenish her energy and rework her focus. It was a maddening process. The operation was simple enough, but the size and delicacy required intense concentration and absolute precision. She'd had to nudge the ruptured blood vessels together before she sped up the phases of mitosis, coaxing the cells to rapidly divide much faster than they did ordinarily. To add to the difficulty of the procedure, Sakura had to do complete healing She would take no chances. Ordinarily, Sakura did not administer such a thorough reparation, mending whatever was broken or torn enough so that the body could take care of itself with no risk to the patient. She rarely heal people to their full capacity, often allowing the natural body to finish what she'd started. This, however, was an exception. Eyes were always an exception, as delicate as they were, and how vitally important they were to humans. Humans depended almost entirely on sight, their other sensory organs almost null and void compared to the power of the human eye. Thousands of years of evolution had slowly desensitized sense of smell and hearing because humans didn't depend on it like they did their eyes. The human eye relayed all information about the environment to humans, depending almost solely on sight for everything. To lose sight would be to die as a ninja. It was difficult enough being blind in civilian life. A blinded ninja usually wished he or she died instead.

Sakura rubbed at her eyes, unfolding her legs from beneath her, wincing at the stiffness of her knees. She stood, moving out into the hall where she careened into Naruto.

"How is he? Is he alright?" Naruto was always in a perpetual state of endless, boundless energy. The words flew from his mouth like bullets, never stopping, never pausing for breath. Sakura was long past feeling overwhelmed by her teammate's exuberance, simply nodding at all of Naruto's rapid-fire questions.

"He's fine, Naruto," Ino said crossly, pushing the excitable blond out of the way. "Sakura needs to eat and take a quiet, relaxing break," she groused, stressing her tone on the word 'quiet'. Sakura tossed Naruto an apologetic smile before being marched down the hall by Ino, looking a bit peaky. Naruto knew that Ino was right, but he grumbled anyway.

"Sakura is almost done with his left eye," Hinata murmured, coming to stand beside her boyfriend. Naruto turned, his face bright as the sun, all for her. Hinata blushed under his searching gaze, unable to be confident with him just yet. "She stitched all the blood vessels together. She is an amazing healer," Hinata said, awe coloring her voice. "She accomplished all that in only an hour... she has to mend Sasuke's chakra pathways and then start on his other eye. I am confident Sasuke will be able to use his sharingan again." Naruto smiled at that, thinking of his fiery, stubborn teammate. Then he swept his girlfriend up in a warm hug and showered her with the attention he hadn't been able to give in days.

* * *

Karin paced restlessly, her sandals sliding against the dappled green grass, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. She chanced a glance at Suigetsu, who lounged against his sword, apparently deep in thought. Zabuza's old sword was half-buried in the ground, creating a sort of post to lean against... you only had to be careful to stay away from the sword's sharper edge. Karin jaggedly ran a hand through her choppy red hair, pushing at her glasses in aggravation. She sighed, wondering how the hell Suigetsu was so calm. He looked peaceful, she noted, sunlight slanting over his cheekbones, highlighting the masculine edges of his jaw. Karin raked her ruby whorls down his pale neck, the alabaster skin shadowed where it met his purple shirt, the zipper pulled a little lower than normal, exposing the planes of his hard chest. Karin continued her visual assessment, glancing over his pale pants and dark shoes before skipping back up to his tranquil face. Suigetsu's eyes were closed, a tip of a fang poking out over his top lip. Karin wondered whose were sharper - his, or Kiba's. She was willing to put her bet on Suigetsu, wondering how fast it would take for her to bleed if he bit her. Suigetsu looked decidedly shark-like, the paleness of his skin tinged a pallid sheen of almost-green, purple eyes cold and calculating. Karin's eyes caught on his sleeveless shirt, lingering at the corded muscles of his biceps, wondering at the strength there. She wondered at how he could lift the sword with such ease. Before, she remembered him struggling to hold it, but now... Suigetsu wielded it as if it were light as a kunai.

As if Suigetsu felt Karin's gaze on him, he opened his eyes, grinning toothily at his teammate. His smile was half-hearted, though, and his eyes mirrored the myriad of feelings coursing through Karin. Even if Karin ever forgave Sasuke... she would never be rid of the scars, physically and mentally. She was reminded of Sasuke's betrayal every time she gazed at her body in the mirror, shame coursing through her at the twisted scar. It was large and marred her breast, tendrils covering majority of the fatty tissue from the chidori. But then, her body hadn't been beautiful before the betrayal, either. Karin's arms, chest and neck were littered with half-moon scars made from teeth, mouths of all shapes and sizes decorating her skin. Karin had never shown them to anyone else that she hadn't healed. No one had seen Karin's body save for professional medics. Sakura was the only person here who knew of the extent of her scars. The only parts about her body Karin liked was her stomach and legs, choosing to showcase them in her outfits because there was nothing beautiful about the rest of her body.

Offhandedly, she wondered if Suigetsu had any scars. He was able to transform into water... did he heal normally? As a matter of fact, Karin suddenly realized she knew next to nothing about Suigetsu. Sure, she knew he was an ass with a crude sense of humor, but that was all she knew. She knew nothing of his childhood, his origins, his favorite things. She couldn't even name his favorite color, or his family members, or the sorts of things he liked... but she trusted him inexplicably. Humans were strange creatures, she decided.

Karin wondered what Suigetsu would think of her scars, peppering her flesh, a gruesome permanence on her skin. Would he be abhorred? Would he look at her the same way? Could anyone learn to love her body, with all her hideous scars? Karin didn't know. What she did know was that Sakura didn't care. Sakura hadn't even batted an eyelash, and Karin wondered at that, wondered what kind of things she'd seen to maker her immune to this. Sakura had roved over each of the bite-marks on Karin's body, curious but not probing. She'd tried to heal them, but they were too old for that. Sakura had tried to make the scars around Karin's breast fade away, but they were there forever. Sasuke was nothing if not thorough.

Sakura worked tirelessly over her ex-teammate, pouring all her strength and energy into someone who didn't appreciate it. Karin observed this fact as she lay in the sun-scattered grass, thinking sadly about Sakura. As much as Karin thought about Sasuke's betrayal, she thought of the moment she'd first laid eyes on Sakura; the moment she realized that Sakura was in love with Sasuke too. For Karin, the empathetic sorrow she felt for Sakura was indescribable. Her heart broke for Sakura that day, because in a single heartbeat, Karin knew that Sakura's love for Sasuke ran deep as the Marianas Trench.

Karin shuddered, under the heat of the sun, feeling as if she'd been rocked by an icy blast. The prospect of a conscious Sasuke made her terrified, more than she cared to admit. She knew he was heavily sedated now, and was set to sleep for several more days, but... Karin had residual nightmares of his betrayal, reliving the stabbing every night in her dreams. Suigetsu patted the grass beside him, silent, and Karin took his offer, reclining on half of Suigetsu's giant sword. She wondered how Suigetsu felt to be back in Mist - did he miss it? How did he feel about being in his home country? Suigetsu certainly fit in among the landscape and the locals. No one gave his shark-like features a second glance, and everyone was the same shade of pale. The rest of the Konoha ninja stuck out like sore thumbs, with bright, vibrant hair and outfits.

"You grew up here?" Karin asked softly, desperate to bring her mind away from Sasuke. Suigetsu looked startled at her question, his brow furrowing slightly as he contemplated her question.

"Yeah," Suigetsu said. He looked out across the ocean, thinking of the time he and his brother had run along Mist's docks, diving and melting into the water as they'd played. "My brother and I used to live in the main city. We used to dream that we'd both become a part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist." Suigetsu gave a wry smile at that, turning lavender eyes upon his teammate. "Mangetsu was one of them. After he died... I lost my motivation for a while. Orochimaru captured me then, and Kabuto experimented on me." Suigetsu offered the information willingly, watching Karin as she did so.

"I grew up in Grass," Karin divulged, seeing it only fit after Suigetsu's confession. Honesty was hard-won in this day and age, and personal information was even trickier to find. Karin was touched by Suigetsu's willing offer of information, and she surmised she could only do the same. "Orochimaru found me after a war razed my village to the ground. I didn't know it at the time, but when I was small, I sensed a large group of people were coming through my sensory ability." Karin smiled bitterly, thinking of the black rubble and smoking ruins she'd found when she was brave enough to venture back. "Orochimaru saved me." Karin reached out and traced the scars littered on Suigetsu's arms. "My loyalty to him after that blinded me to everything else he did," Karin admitted, locking her eyes with Suigetsu's. "That's still not an excuse for what I've done." Suigetsu absorbed that in silence, nodding ever so slightly. He remembered, as strong as the sun, the day Kabuto had first extracted his DNA. He remembered in vivid detail the experiments practiced on his body, the countless blood tests, the agony. He remembered the different poisons and wounds Kabuto inflicted on him for testing, all the times the twisted medical ninja had tortured his body. "I come from the Uzumaki clan, as well. Naruto doesn't know." Suigetsu's eyes bulged at that. He found absolutely no similarities between the two - besides their brazen personalities. Still, though, comparing Naruto and Karin was like comparing night and day. "If we are related, it must be very distantly. I don't ever remember hearing his name brought up, nor of any Uzumaki affiliated with Konoha."

Suigetsu soaked it up like a sponge, giving Karin a fleeting smile. Their relationship was strong but still a little rocky, muddied in areas such as their opinions on Orochimaru. Through it all, though, neither could think of anyone else they'd want to have their back.

* * *

Sakura exhaled through her nose, hovering over Sasuke's unconscious body for the nth time. She closed her eyes, visualizing microscopic capillaries as her chakra sought them out and bound them back together, connecting the frayed ends so that blood could flow through them again. Stitching back broken blood vessels was easy. Sakura healed Sasuke's multiple subconjunctival hemorrhages with ease, but ensuring capillaries healed correctly was a tricksome task. All capillaries are invisible to the human eye, and they are so small that red blood cells, one of the smallest cells in the human body, have to flow through them single-file.

This was part of the reason most medical ninja never knew how to operate on the eye. It was not uncommon for eye-transplants to be performed, but anything regarding healing trauma to the eye was usually untouched. Most medical ninja did not have the precise chakra control to operate on eyes, but luckily for Sasuke, Sakura was one of the few who possessed the skill. Those competent in the healing profession could stitch up capillaries when the need arose, but they were not always completely accurate and rarely were they fully-mended in the wound. Most medical ninja left the capillaries to heal themselves, but Sakura refused to take chances. If the capillaries in Sasuke's eyes didn't heal properly, then it would result in various complications.

Sasuke's eyes needed a regular flow of blood in order to function - without that flow, the organs would wither and rot. Without the capillaries to flow blood through Sasuke's eyes so that the cells there could receive nutrients through diffusion, Sasuke would be left blind permanently. Sakura poured all her energy and strength into healing Sasuke, running herself ragged for a man she didn't know anymore. She sat there for hours, healing, giving Sasuke a gift he would never be able to repay.

Sakura finished the operation as dusk filtered through Mist, the dying sunlight casting long shadows over the island chain. She sagged back, lightly dizzy, satisfaction thrumming deep in her bones. She gave a watery smile, licking her chapped, pale lips as she stared at her success. Sasuke slept peacefully, unaware of Sakura's sacrifice, lost in dreams. Sakura gazed across the tatami flooring, staring at the setting sun in relief. She'd done it. She'd saved Sasuke's entire future as a shinobi, and saved his eyesight in the process. The enormity of her actions wasn't lost on her - she knew that Sasuke would probably never appreciate it. She didn't want to dwell on the fact, though, and stood on wobbly legs, the pinks and golds of the sunset washing her pallid skin in color, highlighting her chin and collarbone.

Kakashi pushed off from the door he'd been leaning against, eyeing his former student with concern. Ino and Hinata set about cleaning up the supplies, though they didn't miss Sakura's exhaustion. Kakashi had never thought of Sakura as delicate - to him she had always been loud and exuberant, a feminine form of Naruto. She was strong and unbreakable in Kakashi's eyes, and this was exemplified by her ability to crush boulders to dust with her little finger. Now, though, caught in the rays of the sunset, Sakura looked fragile, breakable. For the first time Kakashi noted how small she was in comparison with himself and her teammates, the slenderness of her wrists, so thin he could wrap his forefinger and thumb around them with ease. He was startled by how delicate Sakura seemed, and wondered how such strength lay in her slender arms, his eyes falling upon her slim waist. Kakashi felt the strong urge to whisk her away and place her somewhere safe, somewhere far, far away from Sasuke. Sakura was like Rin in a lot of ways. They were both healers, and they both had worked on his eye. But it was more than that. They shared the same level of beauty and prowess. Kakashi saw a lot of Rin in Sakura, and he thought fondly of his old team. The similarities between his own students and his Genin team was striking.

Kakashi could only hope that he would be able to protect Sakura. He'd saved her from death a handful of times, but each time she was in grave danger Kakashi only thought of Rin. He couldn't let Sakura die on his account; it would be like losing Rin twice. Kakashi saw so much of Rin in Sakura that it made his heart hurt sometimes. He saw the way she'd pined over the Uchiha, much like Rin had over him. He'd seen the way Naruto had longed for her attention, anything, and sometimes Kakashi didn't see them as Naruto and Sakura. Sometimes, in his head, he'd called them Rin and Obito.

Sakura gave Kakashi a tired smile and drew him back to the present, and he proudly ruffled the hair on her head.

"You did well, Sakura," Kakashi praised his only female student, concern flooding his system as she drew closer. He saw the dark circles beneath Sakura's eyes, her complexion pallid. Her lips were whitened and she looked thoroughly drained, swaying lightly on her feet. Kakashi, unable to help himself, reached out and gently held her elbow, guiding her through the door and down the hallway. He nudged her into the other spare bedroom, the one currently uninhabited by Sasuke. Sakura followed willingly, almost blindly, and Kakashi knew she would've balked at the care if she wasn't so exhausted. Kakashi helped her to her bedroll, watching her like a hawk as she lowered herself into the blankets. "I'll be back, I'll bring you some soup and water. Don't get up," Kakashi warned, backing out, his last glimpse of her an exhausted but satisfied smile.

Sakura dreamed of Sasuke's face beneath her glowing hands, of midnight-black eyelashes fluttering and sliding back to reveal captivating obsidian, his eyes locking onto hers. She dreamed of the cut of his jaw, the strength in his muscles, she dreamt of the scars striping his arms and the profile of his aristocratic nose. Sakura dreamed in silence, completely enthralled by the Sasuke in her dreams.

Kakashi entered the room, his back leading the way, pushing against the solid oak with the bones of his spine. In his left hand he carried a bottle of water, in the right a steaming bowl of soup. A smile crinkled the corner of his eyes as he turned around to give Sakura her dinner, but froze at the deep, gentle breathing he heard, and noticed she hadn't sensed him at all. Kakashi smiled, silently exiting the room as Sakura soundly slept.

He retreated to the room Sasuke lay recovering in, peeling his mask down as he slowly ate Sakura's soup. Kakashi wondered if Team Seven could ever be whole again. Sasuke had physically matured wonderfully, with toned muscle definition and strong, striking looks to match. Mentally, however... Kakashi didn't lack faith in Naruto or Sakura, but he knew that what they wanted to accomplish was nigh impossible. The Uchiha Sasuke they knew was long gone. The man in his body was a stranger.


	11. Chapter 11

Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

Sasuke's rhythmic breathing filled the quiet room, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took. Sakura eyed the thick black seal peeking out from beneath his slightly ridden-up shirt, spreading across his ivory stomach. The seal was reminiscent of Naruto's, although Naruto's seal held the kyuubi at bay. This seal was for chakra suppression. Several days had passed since Sasuke's eye surgery, during which Sakura had healed the scarred and twisted muscle tissue in Sasuke's back, correcting old, wrongly-healed injuries.

Sakura blinked slowly, pink lashes feathering over her cheekbones, tired but satisfied. She brushed at the front of her red shinobi uniform, watching her ex-teammate in silence. He slept soundlessly, the dark circles under his eyes fading. He was thinner than she remembered, his collarbone strong and defined in the sunlight. His cheeks were slightly gaunt and a touch hollowed, his knuckles prominent and fingers bony. His wrists had thinned, though he hadn't lost any muscle. The robe was by no means attractive, but Sasuke still managed to look regal in it. Sakura nearly smiled at that. Sasuke could wear a dirtied paper bag and still be the most handsome man on the planet. Sakura felt hunger gnaw in her stomach and smiled lightly, reaching out with gentle fingers to brush away a dark lock of hair away from Sasuke's forehead, resisting the urge to trail her fingertips down his face and cup his cheek. She settled for patting the bedspread beside his hand and quietly stood, glancing out the window at the glimmering sea and the bustle of the town below before leaving, shutting the door quietly in her wake.

* * *

Obsidian snapped open. Groggy and disoriented, Sasuke winced at the bright sunlight streaming in through the thick glass window, gazing up at the wooden ceiling. His head spun. Mouth dry, Sasuke licked his lips and tried to gain his bearings. He felt as if he'd been sleeping for far too long. His stomach twinged in hunger and Sasuke desperately tried to make sense of it all. He heard distant laughter and scattered voices, as well as the familiar sounds of a thriving town. Muddled and bleary, Sasuke frowned in utter confusion. Why was he inside? Where was he? An inn? Sasuke screwed his eyes shut and tried to remember where he'd been last. His eyes were somewhat tender and sore, he noted, but it was too much information to process at once.

Sasuke swallowed, focusing on the grain of the wood above his head, trying to remember. There! He suddenly, vividly remembered fighting Neji and Tenten, but there was more than that... Sasuke tensed. He hadn't gone to an inn on his own - he'd passed out on the floor of the cave in his bedroll. A wild jerk of panic sent his head spinning with dizziness again, and Sasuke bit his lip as he tried to clear the lightheadedness. He cursed inwardly, raising his hands in jerky motions, staring at the unfamiliar robe he was wrapped in. Sasuke gazed wildly around the room, the voices outside of the room growing louder.

His mind flew wildly through countless possibilities and calculations. By the angle of the sun he quickly determined that it was sometime after noon, desperately hoping he'd made it to an inn and had blacked out all memories of the transition. Sasuke threaded chakra through his system, reaching out to gauge the chakra levels of those around him. He froze, grasping at chakra that wasn't there. Panic kicked off an adrenaline rush as Sasuke realized he couldn't use his chakra. It had somehow been blocked off. Panic choked his throat and he viciously snapped upright in bed, reeling as dizziness nearly bowled him over again. His gaze darted around the room, searching for any possible enemy, glaring fiercely out the window.

In another part of the house, Kiba's head snapped up as he picked up Sasuke's agitated scent. He stood, a sudden movement that had those around him flinch in surprise. His bowl of udon forgotten, Kiba's head snapped toward the direction of Sasuke's room, tracking his movements with his nose. Akamaru rose, sensing his master's distress, the fur on his back raising slightly. Akamaru growled a little, and Kiba was moving before anyone had time to ask him what was wrong.

"Sasuke's awake!" Kiba barked, careful to keep his voice low. Karin's face turned ashen, and she set down her chopsticks, half-eaten bowl forgotten. Suigetsu's eyes grew wide as dinner plates, though his reaction hadn't been as strong as his teammate's. Sakura and Naruto pushed away from the table in tandem, a single unit as they moved to confront Kiba.

"What's he doing?" they both cried as one, and Kiba shrugged. His fangs extended, he snarled his lip.

"He's panicking," Kiba answered. Naruto and Sakura were off like a shot, leaving Lee to loudly admire their incredible teamwork. Kakashi took note of their mirrored reactions once more and added it to the growing list of evidence to support his hypothesis that Naruto and Sakura were somehow bonded on a higher level.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura shouted as one, bursting into the door as Sasuke fought off dizziness. A tense silence descended over them as soon as Naruto and Sakura skidded to a stop, all three of them locked in a stalemate. Sasuke said nothing. He didn't look at them, his eye caught on something black on his stomach. Sasuke tensed - he knew that seal. Orochimaru had used it countless times on the prisoners in Sound. This seal was reserved specifically for ninja. Sasuke stared at the circular seal, it's flame-like edges spiraling out, reminiscent of Naruto's own. He didn't look at his former teammates.

Sakura felt Naruto's worry and absolute rage through their blood-bond, gritting her teeth as waves of fury lashed at her composure. She nearly shuddered as unbidden resentment rolled down her spine, closing her eyes briefly as their emotions coalesced into one. Sakura was full of trepidation, Naruto was hot with fury. Naruto twitched as Sakura's feelings flooded through him, and their eyes swiftly locked for several milliseconds. They simultaneously jerked their gazes back to Sasuke, who'd lifted his head at Naruto's twitch in his peripherals. A vicious smirk crooked Sasuke's lips as Sakura closed her eyes and shuddered, cruel satisfaction in his veins.

What Sasuke didn't know was that Sakura was working desperately to keep the kyuubi at bay. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, her jaw jumping as she worked to contain Naruto's rage. The kyuubi was raring for a fight, and so was Naruto. She forced down the kyuubi's chakra, drawing in a deep breath as she contained the situation.

All Naruto could see was red. Anger poured over him like a torrential downpour, taking away all reason. He longed to lunge for Sasuke's throat, but Sakura restrained him. She held her tenuous grip over him like a vice, and Naruto's fury slowly ebbed and faded, leaving place to Sakura's calming chakra. Naruto felt Sakura shudder with effort across the bond, though he was still animalistic and hunting for a fight. He felt Sakura distantly, like she was speaking through thick, fogged glass. Then the haze lifted and Naruto stared at his self-proclaimed brother.

Sakura finally opened her eyes with a small sigh of relief, catching hold of Sasuke's sadistic smirk, aimed at her. She brushed it off like water off her back, relieved at preventing Naruto's bloodlust. The kyuubi snarled in rage in the back of her mind, but that was the least of her worries. She was tired, mentally so. She was tired of this fight, this never-ending battle for Sasuke. She didn't want to endure Sasuke's scathing remarks, she didn't want to sit as Naruto tried to reason with him. Sakura's eyes caught on Sasuke's half-open robe, at the seal marring his taut stomach. She lifted her gaze back up to his face, smug satisfaction flooding her veins as she remembered that she was the only reason Sasuke's eyes were healed. She fought back the rising anxiety and stood in silence as she tried to count Sasuke's thick eyelashes.

Kakashi burst into the room then, closely followed by Sai. Sasuke took the advantage that their entry had provided - a distraction. He lunged for Sakura's throat. His hands closed in on Sakura's neck, intending to take her as hostage to ensure his safety. He intended to strangle her with his physical strength, intent on his target. The air whispered around him as he hurtled through the air, his hands brushing aside locks of pink hair as he went for a clean grip on Sakura's delicate throat. Even without chakra, he was fast. Sasuke smirked in victory as he closed his fists around Sakura's neck, but he'd jumped the gun. As Sasuke's hands closed in on Sakura's throat, she had already started moving backward, kicking off with a burst of honed chakra as she hurtled away from Sasuke's attack, eyes locked fiercely with his. Sakura's back hit the wall, her breath leaving her in a rush as her spine collided with the wood. Her breathing hitched in shock and she knew she'd have a large bruise on her back when she peeled away. Sakura aimed to knock Sasuke off his feet with a well-placed kick to the torso, but Sai beat her there. He blocked Sasuke's attack the minute Sakura threw herself away from Sasuke's attempted chokehold, his tanto pressed against Sasuke's throat.

Sasuke's chest heaved with breath as the cold metal pressed against his flesh, threatening to slice his throat if he moved. Sakura stood unharmed, pushing off from the wall, looking unruffled. She'd expected Sasuke to attack them at some point. Sai's voice was dark with fury as he spoke, something that startled the rest of his team. Sai was slowly relearning emotions, but it was exactly that - slow. To react in such a way was quite the suckerpunch for his teammates.

"Do not touch her," Sai snarled, his jaw jumping in barely restrained rage. Sakura stared at her pale teammate in shock, but there were other things to focus on.

"You  _bastard_!" Naruto thundered, his vision red as he screamed at Sasuke. He stormed forward, barely withheld from transformation by Sakura, trembling from head to toe with unbridled fury. Naruto shook and his hands clenched, nails biting his palms so strongly blood welled up beneath his nails and dripped from his fists. There was a slight hiss as Naruto's skin tried to heal itself. Naruto flashed forward and hit Sasuke squarely across the face, breaking the Uchiha's jaw with a vicious punch. He breathed hard, bringing up another fist to fly directly into Sasuke's stomach in his momentum. Weakened by the lack of chakra, strenuous healing, and not having that much food, Sasuke was unable to defend himself. He was still dizzy from his lunge at Sakura, and the shock on his currently weakened body couldn't keep up with his mind. Sasuke gave a dry retch, stumbling back to sit on the bed. Sakura stood frozen in place, all her focus across the blood-bond.

Naruto was undeterred. He briefly thought of Sasuke's previous injuries, thanks to Sakura's link, and relented to a verbal assault instead.

"She fucking saved your life, you ungrateful bastard!" Naruto screamed, his face awash with terrible anger. Naruto strode forward and gripped the front of Sasuke's robes, desperately wanting to throw in several more punches. He wished that Sasuke had his chakra so they could fight, but it wasn't going to happen. "You were going to lose your sharingan and your eyesight if Sakura hadn't saved you!" Naruto spat, fists shaking as he stared his former best friend down. Sasuke didn't react. He sat there apathetically, one hand lying on the cold white sheets of the bed, the other holding his bruised stomach. Sasuke's eyes were cold and uncaring, as if Naruto had just told him his shoe was unstrapped. Sakura had saved his future and Sasuke didn't even care.

"You're pathetic," was all Sasuke said, his voice muffled by his broken jaw and pain. The words resonated in the room, however, and Sakura felt them deep in her bones. She knew those words were directed at her. The words spurred her concentration and she stepped forward, still restraining Naruto as she moved to sedate Sasuke. She touched Sasuke's forehead and he slipped away, back into sleep.

Sakura sighed and touched Sasuke's jaw, healing it even as his words sunk into her skin. Naruto recoiled at that, severing their connection as he stepped to her.

"Don't," Naruto said, his fury ebbing, but Sakura shook him off. Her hand fell to Sasuke's darkly bruised stomach and healed that as well, mending his injuries in silence. She was surprised. They were all surprised. No one was surprised at Sasuke, but they were surprised at Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was the one who fell apart, not Sakura. Sakura thought she would go wild with fury the minute he awoke, and she thought that Naruto would try to make amends. She was wrong. All she felt was detachment, although she knew she would feel like hell later. Naruto's resentment toward Sasuke for the way he'd treated Sakura had come to the forefront, overshadowing any other emotions he held.

Sakura felt numb. She healed Sasuke and pulled her hand away from his warm skin, bitterness creeping through her as she stared at the stranger crumpled across the sheets. Not for the first time, she wondered what they were doing, her and Naruto. Sasuke obviously didn't want to come back, so what were they doing here, with him? Sakura looked at him and felt old hurt consume her, wondering why they hadn't been enough. She thought distantly of Karin and Suigetsu, and she thought of the person he used to be, back in Konoha. Sakura was so tired of hurting over Sasuke. She stood and pushed away from her first love, gliding out of the room and down the hallway. She pulled her arms in to cradle against her, clutching her shoulders.

She shrugged off Hinata and Ino's concerns, pushing the screen door out of Tazuna's home and stepped into the fresh, salty air. Sakura needed to be alone for a little while, at least. She gazed across the vibrant green grass, past that to the slightly sandy patches of oceanside vegetation, shivering slightly in the chilled air. Spring was fast approaching, but the world hadn't shaken off the frost just yet. Sakura sucked in a breath and paced for the harbor, blending in with the bustling crowd around her. Somewhat on autopilot, Sakura stepped into several stores and browsed the clothing racks absentmindedly, her fingers catching on clean collars and lingering on pressed sleeves, thumbing through shirts and skirts unconsciously. Everything felt so surreal. There she was, in a clothing boutique, while Sasuke slumbered less than a mile away.  _Sasuke!_ Sakura was still having trouble believing it; believing that Sasuke was within reach. She and Naruto had waited for this opportunity for  _four_ years... and now that they had him, they could scarcely believe it was real. Too long Sakura and Naruto had waited for this moment. They'd spent months hunting each of Orochimaru's old hideouts just before Pein's destruction of Konoha. They'd investigated all of the lightless reaches of each of Sound's countless prisons, releasing all of Orochimaru's experiments and searching desperately for Sasuke.  _  
_

Sakura shivered in the cool airconditioned store, but her shudder had nothing to do with cold. Sasuke was there, in the flesh, and he still had no intention of coming home to Konoha. Sakura saw it in the lines of his shoulders, the grim draw of his mouth, the condescending sneer he'd laced her with. Standing before him, Sakura felt thirteen all over again. She felt as if her confidence unraveled to thin threads with one look, as if the barriers she'd built around her heart turned to dust the minute Sasuke touched them. Sakura didn't feel seventeen when she stood before Sasuke, she didn't feel as if she could have ever bested Sasori of the Red Sands, she felt as if her medical prowess was truly insignificant under Sasuke's scrutiny. Sakura hated that he had such devastating power over her, and she loathed herself for giving it to him.

Sakura bit the edge of her thumb, an old habit she'd curbed years ago. She pushed on the thin metal handle of the boutique, barely hearing the merry tinkling of bells on the door as they sounded her departure. She wandered aimlessly down the sand-blown road, heading for the pier. Alone, Sakura climbed up the worn steps to the lookout over the ocean, breathing in the salty air, feeling the mist of the ocean upon her face. She trailed a hand along the damp railing, gazing out over the endless sea. Ships winked and glimmered near the horizon, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Sakura almost smiled. She felt heavy with old burdens, brushing her hair out of her face as the wind whipped through it. Sakura longed for a hairtie as the strands of her hair felt as if they were making thin cuts on her face. Sakura sucked in a salt-tinged breath, letting the crashing waves lull over her, her heartbeat slowing and almost-peace washing over her body. She stood there for an hour, lost in thought, jerking in surprise when a warm hand grasped her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice was full of relief, worry showing through his crystal blue eyes. Sakura put a hand to her racing heart, laughing shortly.

"You surprised me, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, blinking in surprise at how low the sun had gotten. Naruto grinned at her, sunlight glinting off his white teeth and setting his eyes brilliantly ablaze. For the thousandth time, Sakura wished she'd fallen in love with Naruto instead. It would have been so easy, she thought bitterly, admiring the way the light slanted down his cheekbones, highlighting his broad shoulders, the strength in his body. Naruto was incredibly handsome, and had a wonderful heart to boot. But every time Sakura laid in bed and tried to envision her future, the man standing beside her had impossibly dark hair and eyes like oil spills. Sakura offered Naruto a barely-there smile, feeling suddenly drained. The wind picked up a ferocious gust, slamming walls of water against the pillars holding up the pier.

Sakura cast one last glance out at the sparkling water, glimmering brilliantly as diamonds where the sunlight hit. She turned to face her teammate, rubbing at the dried salt covering her face. She grimaced, her hair stiff with salt and the ends slightly damp from the ocean spray. Sakura longed to take a shower.

"Dinner's gonna be ready soon," Naruto said. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I know what Sasuke said hurt you." Classic Naruto. Blunt, and straight to the point. At least, Sakura he reasoned, he wasn't as insensitive as Sai. Sakura bristled at the truth, not wanting to admit it to herself.

"I'm  _fine_ , Naruto," Sakura stressed, trying not to think of the way her heart shattered at his scathing gaze. Sasuke could break her so easily, Sakura mused. Frustration coursed through her and she tried not to snap at Naruto. He didn't deserve her taking it out on him, not when he was hurting a little as well. Naruto placated her, backing off the subject entirely.

"Tazuna's daughter made cold soba noodles," Naruto grinned in an effort to distract his teammate. Sakura smiled and eagerly jumped upon the topic-switch, thankful for Naruto's growing sensitivity to those around him. As they joked and prodded fun at each other all the way back to Tazuna's house, Karin watched them with growing envy.

Karin felt washed out as she watched the two close-knit teammates laugh as they ascended the stone stairs, feeling incredibly inferior in comparison. Sakura was a world famous medical ninja, second to only Tsunade herself. The pink-haired kunoichi had also defeated Sasori of the Red Sands, earning her renowned fame. She was close with the Kazekage and his powerful siblings, not to mention a valuable asset of Konoha. She'd captured the heart of the most powerful jinchuuriki, tutored by the famous copy-ninja, and the last Uchiha on earth had once cared about her deeply. Karin felt like nothing beside Sakura. Jealousy did not fill her heart, for Karin knew that Sakura deserved praise and kindness. Still, Karin could not help feel bitter standing beside the incredible kunoichi. Karin watched Sakura with longing, remembering the way Sasuke had so easily driven his hand into her chest, intending to kill... whilst he hadn't been able to hurt Sakura. She'd heard tales spun by escapee prisoners from Sound - the day Sasuke incapacitated the rest of Team Yamato, Sakura had stood unharmed in the rubble, the only member of the team uncrippled by Sasuke's paralyzing chidori. Karin remembered how Sasuke had heard Sakura out before attacking her, how he'd held back until her teammates were within safe distance to whisk her away before he could do any damage. Karin bit her lip and watched the easy smile on Sakura's face, and the matching grin on Naruto's. Longing crashed through her; she wanted what they had. Karin knew she, Suigetsu and Juugo had been their replacements. What a joke, she thought sourly. No one could ever replace them.

Karin laced a smile on her face, trying to make it genuine as the pair drew up to the house.

"Hey, Karin!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, always so giving. Sakura gave Karin a calmer greeting, and up close Karin could see the pain masked by her cheerfulness. Karin's bitter loathing melted away under the look in Sakura's eyes - it was one Karin regularly recognized in her own. Karin and Sakura were more alike than it looked on the surface.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Rain fell heavy in Water Country, starting with fine, light mist that fell softly toward the windows but picked up tempo and railed against the glass.

Sakura lulled into consciousness, opening her eyes to the pitter-patter of rain on the window, rolling on her side to observe the downpour. She hummed lightly, giving a good stretch, her hands skimming over the wooden floorboards as she shifted in her bedroll. The gray light that shone gently through the windows illuminated the room behind her in a soft glow, falling upon the sleeping ninja. Sakura's jade eyes caught the light and they glimmered, shading into darker green as she rolled back to observe her slumbering friends.

The rain grew louder, gushing down the gutters and drilling the roof. Still, the kunoichi and shinobi slept on, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing on the horizon. Sakura slid out of her sleeping roll quietly, running her tongue along her teeth. She grimaced, plucking her toothbrush and face soap from her pack before she crossed the room in silent strides, slipping into the cozy, beach-themed bathroom to wash up. Sakura examined her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, foam at the corners of her lips as she scrutinized herself in the shining glass. Her imperfections were erased in the soft, friendly light the lone bulb provided, but she frowned at the ends of her hair. It was getting a little long, brushing her shoulders, creeping down her back and cresting over her collarbones. She made a mental note to get haircut once she was back in Konoha. Kakashi preferred to cut his hair by kunai himself, but Sakura was adamant about it being professionally done. After that fateful match at the first chuunin exam she'd taken, Sakura refused to take anymore knives to her hair again. Her hair had had split-ends for ages, she recalled with chagrin.

Her thoughts turned more somberly to the boy that slumbered across the hall, recalling the path of his shoulders and broad chest, recreating his strong, aristocratic face and memorizing the shape of his eyes. Sakura spat toothpaste into the sink and rinsed, splashing her face with cool water as she tried not to think about him. It didn't work. She rubbed coarsely at her face with soap, remembering the ice in his eyes and the bleakness of his sharp, cutting tone. Sakura rinsed once more and patted her face dry, staring into her own eyes as she gripped the edges of the porcelain sink. She was careful not to use her chakra-enhanced strength, second nature to her now as she clenched the basin. Her gaze fell upon the shells decorating the back of the sink, darting along the grooves and curves of the clamshells and conchs. The rain fell harder, blanketing the islands in sheets, darkening the early morning skies as an indicator of what was to come.

Sakura lounged against the kitchen counter, biting into an apple lazily, propping her chin on her palm as she chewed. Kakashi sat beside her, absorbed in his battered orange book. Sakura inwardly snorted. Trust Kakashi to still be able to be engrossed in porn, no matter what the circumstance. His presence beside her was comforting, familiar. Sakura's world had been rocked to the core and turned upside down in the past several days - Kakashi's familiar habit was anchoring, like a tentative tether to reality. Not that Sakura would ever admit it aloud.

"Do you..." Sakura surprised herself by speaking her train of thought, dread coursing through her as she realized her thoughts had been spoken out loud. Damn her traitorous tongue! Sakura futilely hoped her former sensei had not heard her, but the wishful lull was shattered. Kakashi had lowered the explicit material from his visage, lone black eye attentive and fixed on her. Sakura cursed silently, wishing she'd held her tongue. She pulled her lower lip into her mouth, worrying it slightly with her teeth as Kakashi patiently waited for her to continue. Sakura sighed as she realized she had no other option but to say her thoughts aloud. "Do you think we can bring Sasuke back?" The words were hesitant, fragile, unfurling shakily from her lips as her voice sounded them. Sakura felt suddenly flighty, suppressing the urge to flee from Kakashi's intense stare. Sakura was acutely aware of her entire body - her breathing, her heartbeat, the way she leaned against the table, the way she held the apple between her fingertips. She was aware of the shuddering timbre of her voice, how her voice stuttered on Sasuke's name and the abruptness of her tone. Sakura felt transparent, as if Kakashi could suddenly see past her skin and into her heart. There was a long, agonizing pause before Kakashi finally spoke. He said the words carefully, precisely, his expression smooth and his voice like polished glass. Sakura felt as vulnerable as her namesake, delicate as the Sakura petals that had inspired a festival.

"Sasuke... Sasuke is lost. He is grieving, confused, and angry. He has the blood of many on his hands. Yet..." Kakashi gave a gentle pause, analyzing Sakura's each and every reaction. "Do you remember, in the Forest of Death? When you were attacked by Sound Nin and cut your hair?" Sakura felt confusion awash over her. She nodded ever so slightly, brow knit in confusion. Why was he bringing that up now? How was that relevant? Sakura almost laughed. She remembered that day, clear as a bell. She'd never forget the murderous rage in Sasuke's eyes, the curse mark spreading over his skin like fire. She'd never forget the helplessness she felt that day, nor the absolute fear. She remembered her first Chuunin exams with regret. If she'd told Kakashi about Sasuke's curse mark, perhaps they would've never gotten into this mess. Sakura banished her regretful memories, trying to focus on the present.

"Yes," Sakura said slowly, still trying to work out the importance of that particular memory. She rubbed her fingers over the smooth surface of the apple, frowning in slight annoyance as juice dripped onto her palm and slid stickily down her wrist. The rain fell still in heavy sheets, not showing any signs of letting up. The rain battered the windows like Sakura's thoughts against the brim of her skull, overflowing the gutters and spouts with alarming speed.

"Sasuke broke both of that ninja's arms... because he touched you. Sasuke was ready to murder that Sound Ninja because he bruised you up, because he simply touched you. Do you remember, Sakura?" Sakura shuddered at the memory. It was one she rarely liked to recall. The sickening snap of the ninja's arms had never left her mind. Kakashi's eye was intense, stone black filled with urgency, but Sakura still didn't understand. "Sasuke left because he felt he couldn't protect you or Naruto. That day, when Gaara attacked you... he hated himself for not being able to protect you, Sakura. Sasuke nearly killed a ninja because he hurt you. Do you understand now?" Kakashi's voice was imploring, his mask crinkling in an encouraging smile. Sakura fought down the tentative hope blooming in her chest. She understood, alright. But the Sasuke sleeping just a room away was vastly different than the Sasuke who'd risked his life to protect her. Sakura gave her former sensei a bitter smile, a pale reminder of her brilliant grins.

"People change, sensei," Sakura whispered, her smile jaded.

"You were one of his most precious people, Sakura. Never forget that. And I'm sure that you still are, no matter how buried it may be." Kakashi countered Sakura's bitter, loathing answer with a warm reply of his own. He ran a hand through his silver hair, looking content with his words.

"He tried to  _kill_ me numerous times, Kakashi-sensei, in case you've forgotten. I'm sure his bond with me is further than six feet under." Sakura retorted, biting into her apple with vicious force.

"Except not really," the silver-haired shinobi mused, a ghost of a wry smile on his face. Sakura just continued to look at him scathingly, her eyes cutting.

"Do explain," Sakura snapped, grinding her teeth into the bit of apple peel left in her mouth. Kakashi watched her with slight amusement, reaching a hand out to toy with the worn pages of his book.

"Every time he's attacked me, Naruto, or even you - he's never hurt one hair on your head. At least, not directly. He's never even touched you, Sakura. He incapacitated and sent chidori through the rest of us, but he's never hurt you, not once."

Sakura yanked a hand through her hair and looked away, exhaling heavily through her nose. Agitation painted over her features when she did turn her head back to face Kakashi again, refusing to meet his eye.

"He was trying to," Sakura said shortly, but deep within her she knew there was at least some validity to Kakashi's argument. Kakashi was one of the world's most powerful ninja. If he'd wanted to harm her, or kill her, she would've been dead already. "It doesn't change the fact that he's not who he used to be. He doesn't care about anyone, not even himself." She chucked the half-eaten apple into the trash, storming out the back door, tugging her black gloves on with determination. Kakashi watched Sakura go, smiling at the flurry of her pink hair as she slammed the door. He knew he'd gotten through to her; it didn't matter what she said. He knew that the emotions on her surface were a polar opposite to the real ones simmering, catching fire inside her.

"You can come out now," Kakashi intoned, flipping open his favorite book once more, leaning forward to pluck an orange out of the fruitbowl.

Sai emerged, his countenance blank as always. Lately he was more human than he'd ever been, but to Kakashi, he was still a block of wood. Sai slid into the barstool Sakura had formerly occupied, observing the silver-haired Jonin with mild interest. He folded his hands neatly in his lap and watched Kakashi's deft fingers make short work of the orange peel, popping the juicy slices into his mouth with flickering speed.

"Do you really think that?" Sai asked, his words carefully pronounced and flowing. He tilted his head quizzically, recalling the notion from a TV show he'd seen once. Kakashi's lone eye swiveled around to survey the ivory-skinned ninja, measuring, calculating. Sai simply continued to observe. Kakashi's face was well hidden by his mask, making it hard for Sai to get a read on his emotions.

"I wouldn't make up crap to make her feel better," Kakashi said flatly, making it clear to Sai that he wasn't up for discussion. He cared deeply for his two students, but beyond that, it was touch and go. Kakashi also had a bit of a soft spot for Sakura - he saw a lot of Rin in her, and he saw himself in Sasuke. He'd experienced firsthand Rin's unrequited love and affection, recalling all the times he'd rudely pushed her away. He watched history repeat itself in the last Uchiha, and he stood by and watched Sakura's heart crumble and shatter the way Rin's had, and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"You care a lot for Naruto and Sakura," Sai observed, "but you are more open with Sakura. Is it because she is female? Do you see her in her biological identity as a caregiver?"

"What?" Kakashi replied, giving the ex-Root member a strange look. Sai procured what he hoped was a convincing smile, making sure his eyes crinkled at the corners. He'd read in one of his many books that that was what marked genuine smiles.

"Never mind," Sai chimed cheerfully, pushing gracefully away from the table. "I'm going to see if Sakura wants to train with me." Without another word he slipped noiselessly out the door, his cheerful facade never faltering. Kakashi snorted, reaching for another orange.

"He's going to get pummeled," Kakashi remarked with vicious amusement, his eye crinkling in a smirk.

* * *

Contrary to the copy-nin's prediction, Sai emerged from his fight with Sakura relatively unscathed. He rolled his shoulders back, looking pleased with himself. He hoped he'd relieved some of Sakura's frustration, taking his bruised jaw in stride as he left the clearing.

Sakura fell against the back of a scarred tree, branding evidence upon its trunk of the friendly skirmish that had transpired. She gave a wan smile, musing that while Sai was generally perceptive as a rock, sometimes he pulled through without even knowing what he was doing. She'd come out to train alone, but when Sai had shown up, asking for a friendly battle, it had helped Sakura let go of some of her tension. She thought that Sai just wanted to train, not realizing the meaning of Sai's proud smile as he left.

She pulled at a glove, slipping it off her hand as she pushed the pair into her pouch. Around her lay upturned earth and manmade fissures, and the forest looked like the portal to hell had opened within it. Sakura gazed at the destruction with a slight twinge of remorse for the trees, but it'd been good to blow off steam. She'd been needing this for a while.

With a satisfied sigh, Sakura returned to Tazuna's home, shedding pieces of gear onto her roll as she rooted around for a change of clothes and a towel, snatching her tubes of shampoo and bodywash as she went. She stepped into the light, airy bathroom, setting her clothes down upon the ornate countertop. With a crank of a chrome knob the shower powered to life, streaming rushing water down onto the tiles below. Sakura divested herself of her dirtied clothes and stepped under the powerful spray, humming in delight as the water pounded gently down upon her shoulders.

Under the cascade of hot water, Sakura had a lot of time to think. She methodically rinsed the suds out of her hair, mechanically reaching for the travel-sized tube as she lathered up again. No matter how she angled the camera, no matter how she viewed it, what Kakashi said wasn't entirely full of crap. She sighed, tilting her head back to let the water cleanse her hair, staring blankly at the white tiles before her.

Sasuke hadn't touched her once, not since the time he'd knocked her out when they were thirteen. He'd attempted to murder Naruto, he'd shot the rest of her team full of debilitating electricity, but she'd been safe where she'd stood. Sakura raked a hand through her drenched hair, cursing as it tangled and knotted, pulling painfully at her scalp. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't understand anything; she couldn't make heads or tails out of Sasuke's motives. He was as cryptic as the afterlife.

She emerged from the cocoon of warm air ten minutes later, ruffling her towel over her hair as she stepped out of the bathroom, adjusting her tanktop. Neji slipped past her into the bathroom, greeting her warmly as he walked in.

"Sakura!" Karin suddenly appeared, her hair in disarray and her chakra fluctuating. Sakura assessed the kunoichi with clinical eyes, sweeping over her front to ensure that Karin was physically alright. "It's - it's Sasuke." The redhead's voice caught on his name, ruby whorls darkening as she did so. "Something's wrong." And with that Sakura tore down the hallway, slinging her towel over her shoulder as she slid into the room. Sasuke lay upon the bed, thrashing, his head violently snapping from side to side as he moaned in anguish.

"Itachi," he sobbed, a broken syllable that seemed to make time stop. Sakura froze, her heart breaking at the agonizing expression on Sasuke's face. It was so twisted in grief that Sakura forgot all about the cold, heartless man he appeared to be now. She rushed forward, breaking from the spell, her hands soothing his demons away. She stroked his cheeks, warm chakra flooding through her touch as she eased Sasuke out of his frantic spell, brushing the tears on his cheeks away with bewilderment. Sakura pulled away once Sasuke quieted, the nightmare finished. She stared down at her wet hands, testament to Sasuke's grief in the droplets on her fingertips. She looked up, confused and frustrated. Karin slid into her peripheral vision, looking more and more like a flight risk.

"Is he... okay?" The question was grating, hesitant. Sakura understood. She simply nodded, slowly wiping the heels of her palms on her pants, the muscle of her jaw jumping as she looked back up.

"He's fine. Did he ever have nightmares when you were a team?" Sakura asked.

"No, not really - not that I know of, anyway. He didn't sleep next to us. He kept his distance; he never slept near camp." Karin fell silent, taking her leave when Sakura didn't respond.

Sakura sat with Sasuke for a while, simply thinking, observing. He was broken, more than she realized. Like puzzle pieces falling neatly into place, Sakura saw beneath his frigid exterior. Sasuke was scared, hurt, and the problem wasn't that he was uncaring - he simply cared too much. He did all of what he did because he loved his family, and after he learned about the truth of the Uchiha Massacre, he'd done what he did because he loved his brother. Sakura exhaled sharply and lowered her head into her hands, her gaze skittering across the natural wooden floor.

She knew that they couldn't force Sasuke to stay with them once they got back to Konoha. They couldn't wrestle him into living in the village again, they couldn't strap him down under the Konoha banner and force him to fight in its name. Even if they managed to subdue Sasuke and keep him in the village, he would never be loyal. He would hate it with reckless abandon; he would never grow to love it again if he didn't want to. Sakura knew that all the odds were stacked against them. Sasuke hated the village violently, and he didn't want to go back. They wouldn't be able to force him to stay, but Sakura didn't know if she and Naruto could let him go, either. They were willing to follow him to the ends of the earth, but they had obligations to their village, and if Sasuke didn't want them with him then they couldn't follow. Sakura let out a ragged breath, her eyes greedily drinking in Sasuke's image beside her.

She didn't want to know what he'd become in his absence, either. She'd heard terrible stories, she'd been privy to his lashing, scathing words and had heard about the numerous atrocities he'd committed. Sakura hated every minute they stayed in Water Country - she hated sitting around like lame ducks. The tension in the air was unbearable, especially among her peers. Sasuke was volatile, unpredictable, and more trouble than he was worth to the majority of the Konoha ninja.

"Sakura?" Hinata's soft voice broke Sakura from her reverie, her long, dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she leaned into the room. Sakura unfolded her legs from beneath her and stood, moving towards the pale-skinned girl in the doorway. "Tsunade-sama sent a message for you," she explained, holding out a thin roll of parchment.

"Thanks, Hinata," Sakura hummed absentmindedly, pulling at the sealing ribbon wrapped tight around the missive. The paper crinkled as she unrolled the message, her eyes skimming over the neat characters, her mouth quirking at the drop of liquor on the edge of the paper. She looked up to meet the Hyuuga heiress's eyes when she finished. "We leave in the morning. The Council's planning something. There's a new hit out on Sasuke; we need to get him back to Konoha ASAP." With that she left the room in a swirl of pink, grabbing onto her dormant link with Naruto and giving it a sharp tug. He flooded her mind immediately, as she did his.

 _'Grab everyone. Emergency meeting, stat.'_ With that Sakura abruptly severed the connection, tamping down the flood of concern Naruto had ignited within her. Sometimes their blood-bond hindered more than helped.


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto stared up at the boat with trepidation, nervously eyeing the way it rocked from side to side, even docked. Lightning flashed distantly and the wind howled, kicking up speed as it raced across the water. A deadly storm brewed on the horizon, and Naruto gulped. They were headed straight into the tempest, and Mist was notorious for its fearsome typhoons. Many lives had been claimed by the churning ocean; both veteran sailors and unskilled men had met their watery ends in the thrashing depths.

They needed to get back to Konoha as swiftly as they could, however, and there was one crew crazy enough to brave the storm. The ship was a beast in size, sporting thick metal that rose high over the top of the water, a streamline of tapered steel at the prow. The ship was dark in color and looked like it could tackle any wave it encountered, which lessened Naruto's anxiety. He turned to look at Sakura automatically, meeting her gaze as if he'd been expecting it. Sasuke observed the interaction between his former teammates, scrutinizing their relationship, trying to find any dents or holes he could take advantage of. He surveyed the entire squad analytically, looking for weaknesses, holes he could jump through when no one was looking. Sasuke wished he had chakra - he would've been able to escape the minute he'd woken. He scowled darkly, thinking of the wide seal stuck on his skin, divesting him of his chakra. Surely they knew they couldn't bind him like this forever. He'd find a way to escape, some way to break the seal. Sasuke watched as Naruto and Sakura spun on their heels, thanking Tazuna for his hospitality in tandem. Another look was exchanged between them and they turned again, searching the ship with eager eyes. Sasuke observed silently, somewhat surprised at how close they'd grown. Back when Sasuke had still been a loyal citizen to Konoha, Sakura had disliked Naruto with every fiber of her being. She'd find excuses and ways to ditch him every time they were alone together; she'd hit him constantly and berate him at every chance she got.

"Why can't we leave when the storm is over?" Naruto whined, the pitch of his voice grating on Sasuke's ears.

"You  _know_ why," Sakura said crossly, rolling her eyes skyward. "We'll be fine, Naruto. We can walk on water if we need to. Besides, we've missed enough already. I don't want to know how tall my pile of paperwork is," she shuddered, thinking of Tsunade's sadistic smile. "Don't even think about taking me drinking when we get back. I bet Tsunade's buried my office six feet under in paperwork by now."

"Tsunade never does paperwork sober," Naruto argued, "besides, you're the best player we've got. We won't win any ryo!"

"Oh, the horror," Sakura mocked, rolling her eyes once more. She almost forgot the surly Uchiha lingering behind them, simmering in unfettered rage and resentment. "It's not like you don't have enough money already," Sakura chastised. Tsunade had passed on all of her infamous traits down to Sakura but gambling.

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, but his tone was lighthearted. Sakura smiled and gave Naruto a half-hearted punch on the shoulder, packing no power behind it.

"Never change, Naruto," Sakura said suddenly, her smile a bit wistful as she stared at the exaggerated pout on his face. Naruto laughed and slung an arm around his teammate's shoulders, pressing a kiss into her hair. He let Sakura go and loped off to find Hinata, his hands in his pockets and a spring in his step. Sakura suddenly felt Sasuke's eyes on her back, burning, branding. She refused to turn, unwilling to acknowledge the surly renegade behind her. So she stepped forward, up toward the ship, walking up the metal ramp as the sea churned beneath her.

Sasuke viciously longed to jump into the water, but even as he walked up the ramp he knew it would be too dangerous. His wrists were bound for the journey - the crew aboard the ship refused to let him on without them - and he didn't have enough chakra for sufficient water-walking. The risk of drowning was too great, and when and if the shinobi caught him, he wouldn't get another chance at escape. Sasuke's lips curled into a sneer, glancing scathingly at the Konoha ninja, longing for his chakra. He leaned against the prow of the ship, wind tousling his unkempt hair. His hands fisted over the railing, knuckles bleaching white as he stared at the white-capped waves in the distance. The wind kicked up spray across the rough water, and as Sasuke looked above them, the sky threatened to split into a furious storm.

Sasuke's eyes didn't hurt anymore. His back felt better than ever as well; the muscles didn't pull when he stretched anymore, nor did he have the residual aching he was used to. Sasuke's mind flashed back to Naruto's heated words about the healing Sakura had done for him, and he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, scanning his gaze across the churning water. Remorse did not fill him, but he couldn't explain the tight feeling in his throat. His vision was better than ever, his eyes pain-free. He'd been used to the constant, dull ache, but his eyes gave him no trouble now. Sasuke felt physically weak still, not fully recovered from his poor diet of weeks' past. Sasuke was torn out of his reverie by Sai's quiet approach.

"Sasuke," Sai said, and Sasuke couldn't parse the tone of his voice. It was emotionless, dispassionate, unlike the fervent snarl Sai had procured earlier. "I meant what I said. If you touch one hair on either of their heads, I will kill you." The look Sai fixed Sasuke with almost made him feel like prey. Those cold black eyes were deadly and promising, and Sasuke knew that the man before him was a skilled hunter. Sasuke didn't feel intimidated, however. Contempt washed over Sasuke and he simply looked the pale artist back in the eyes, a condescending sneer lurking at the edge of his lip.

There was a sudden, loud laugh, cutting through the tension between Sai and Sasuke. Neither looked away, but another burst of laughter rent the air and Sai broke away, slipping away toward the starboard. Sasuke looked across the way to see who'd been laughing, and his eyes caught on Sakura, her head tossed back in another chime of laughter, mirth written across her features. Disdain filled Sasuke at the sight, his lip curling slightly. He jerked his eyes away from the disgusting sight and turned back out toward the water, his jaw clenched in anger.

Sakura, in turn, glanced at Sasuke the minute he spun away, caught on the span of his tense shoulders. Sakura felt a familiar clench in her abdomen, her heart soaring to her throat as she stared at the proud line of Sasuke's back. Nervous butterflies filled her stomach, and for a moment she felt weightless. Seeing Sasuke sent a thrill through her body, as if she were dreaming and afraid to wake up. At the same time, Sakura's mouth filled with a sour taste she couldn't place. Bitterness burned down her throat like vodka, cleaving through the butterflies in her stomach. She felt anger curl lazily in the pit of her stomach, a low thrum of warm lava moving sluggishly through her veins. Disgust filled Sakura then, bile rising in her throat at the splotch of crimson at the top of Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke's hair half-covered the fan, the too-long ends scraping past the edge of the crest. The sight of the Uchiwa fan made Sakura nauseated. Betrayal roiled inside her, burning, like fingers brushed against a red-hot stovetop. Sakura looked away, wetting her lips, turning her face into the ocean spray.

Sasuke's chains rattled, clinking against each other noisily, and he studied them mutinously. His eyes caught on several rusting links, the heavy iron beginning to chafe his wrists. Not that he would ever complain. He turned his murderous glare from the metal around his wrists to the pregnant sky, mist in his mouth. The clouds were heavy and swollen, belying a frightening storm ahead. The boat rocked against the sea, cleaving effortlessly through water.

"The crew wants us inside," announced a voice at Sasuke's back. Sasuke turned, fixing a cold stare upon the male speaker before him. Neji appeared undaunted, his mouth slanted in a severe line. "Now." Neji's voice brooked no argument, cold and commanding. Sasuke gritted his teeth against the order, but there was no point in resisting. Sasuke pushed away from the cold railing and fisted his icy hands, discreetly rubbing warmth back into them as he followed the Hyuuga's proud back below the deck.

A large table filled with loyal Konoha shinobi from end to end greeted them, their forehead protectors glinting in the dim light, a wash of leaf symbols winking mockingly at Sasuke as he stepped in. Sasuke thought of his own hitai-ate, the symbol slashed through by Naruto's kunai, the blue cloth bloodstained and frayed. He wondered if it lay buried deep in the riverbed, hidden below the thick mud. Sasuke didn't know it was kept cleaned and polished in Naruto's bedside table, concealed beneath a false bottom for safekeeping.

The ninja inside greeted Neji warmly as the man stepped in, but as Sasuke entered behind him they fell silent. Several of them stared at Sasuke mutinously, their eyes hard and punishing. The tiniest smirk graced Sasuke's lips at their hatred. Her surmised they were only here for Naruto and Sakura. Good. Some of them had already realized that Sasuke's return to Konoha would merely be temporary. Neji sank into an empty seat beside his team, melding in with the rest of the leaf ninja, and Sasuke felt bile rise to the back of his throat. The symbol of Konoha all hung on them in one way or another, clinging to them like a disgusting disease. Foreheads, arms, belts, tied around necks. Sasuke felt faintly sick, staring at their blind devotion to a village they knew nothing about. He wasn't sure if it was disgust or seasickness that wracked him now. Old hatred rose inside him, easily taking flame, licking at his burnt heart with fresh fire.

Unsurprisingly, it was Naruto who broke the silence, giving Sasuke an easy smile, the edges fraying with unease, but Sasuke didn't notice the latter. Naruto gesticulated to the open seat at his right, Kakashi providing as a buffer to the seat's right. Sasuke felt disdain rise inside him like a tsunami, but he stepped forward anyway, the chains around his wrists clanking together too loudly in the disquieting silence. It wasn't like there was anywhere else to go. Sasuke noticed Sakura and Sai across the table, their heads bent together, silently whispering. Sai's mouth was close to Sakura's ear, his mouth moving rapidly. His lips were in too much shadow to read, but Sakura nodded her head minutely, rapidly, her eyes darting back and forth as she processed his words. Sasuke stiffly took the seat, the smirk gone from his face, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes flinty. A startled laugh suddenly erupted from Sakura's mouth, as if it had been wrenched unknowingly from her lungs, and she looked briefly surprised. She cut off the swift bark of laughter, biting down on her smile, the corners of her lips quivering with reluctant amusement. Sai ceased his quiet conversation with Sakura and withdrew, meeting Sasuke's eyes evenly over the table. There was no emotion there, simply bland observation. Sasuke was not intimidated, and if his chakra hadn't been bound, he would've met that blank stare with ruby red whorls.

Sasuke sat in seething silence, his expression stormy, eyes flickering like lightning. His back was straight and painfully proud, his manacled hands in his lap, the metal links pooled together between his legs. He chanced a glance down the table, flicking past several stony shinobi, as conversation slowly started up again. He felt like a caged tiger, his mind pacing uneasily behind the bars, itching with stillness. Sitting placidly rubbed at Sasuke the wrong way, every fiber of his being straining for a fight, yearning to split open skin beneath his knuckles, hungry for battle. Impulsive anger warred with Sasuke's patience, wearing him thin as he listened to the chime of laughter across the table, assaulted with the easy, calm voices at his right. Sasuke focused his gaze on the table, absentmindedly following the path of woodgrain in lazy swirls down over the worn edges of the table. Naruto spoke animatedly with Hinata at his left, gesturing wildly, and Sasuke noted that his over-exuberance hadn't dulled any over the years. How unfortunate. Kakashi remained silent beside him, nose-deep in a tattered, dog-eared bright orange book, the title nearly too faded to read. Sasuke continued his scan down the table, mostly out of boredom, before he spotted Karin and Suigetsu perched at the ends, flight risks ready to take off. They'd dropped any pretense of bravery, and Sasuke felt a dark, vicious sense of satisfaction curl lazily in his gut. He remembered the vivid, searing fear painted in Karin's eyes as he'd thrusted his fist through her chest like it was yesterday, and a sadistic smirk twisted his lips. Karin looked vulnerable, hunched over the table, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle, her hair falling into her face. Her face was pale and drawn, the line of her mouth severe, curving into her body as if she wanted to disappear. Cruel satisfaction shot straight to the marrow of Sasuke's bones, wickedness tangling and unfurling inside him, and he felt a dark, dirty kind of good. Fear was delicious.

Sakura caught Sasuke's gaze, simply observing, calculating. She wondered just how far he'd fallen. Sasuke was dangerously, precariously out of reach, and Sakura wondered at his physical addiction. He was too thin, pale and sallow, a twinge unhealthy. The hollowness of his body matched his soul; doubt tore through Sakura like bullet holes. Sasuke was so far gone, so lost, so mangled and twisted. She saw it in the lilt of his wicked smile, the haunted, dark, glassy look in his eyes. It lay in his veins, too, prominent in his drug addiction, the insides of his body scarred by constant drug use. Orochimaru had kept Sasuke pumped full with a dangerous cocktail of chemicals, and Sakura was unsure of how addicted Sasuke had become. But he was here, with them, albeit by force, and he was here to stay - at least, for the moment. Sakura didn't want to think about the future. He was physically healing, and that was enough for her. She'd take all she could get.

Thirty minutes later and Sasuke was in a foul, terrible mood. He itched for something, he didn't know what, and he fidgeted restlessly. Food began to emerge from the gallery, brought forth by a tough-looking cook, scars roping down his arms, his chest broad and body packed with muscle. Sasuke glared darkly down at his meal, feeling jittery, unable to concentrate completely. Sasuke stabbed irritably at the meat on his plate, his mouth dry and a light headache coming on. As the course of the meal went on, Sasuke's heart suddenly picked up in rhythm, anxiety building inside him, breaking out in a light sweat. He continued to place food in his mouth, but he disengaged from reality, having extreme difficulty concentrating, chills overtaking his body. He resisted the tremors, unsure of the sudden physical sickness. His eyes felt fine, and so did his other muscles. Sasuke nearly winced; his heart was surely beating too fast, but why? No one around him noticed but Sakura, her eyes tight on him, hawklike in focus. As Sasuke grew nauseous, Sakura stood in a rush of movement, having noticed the telltale signs of withdrawal. She was across the table in seconds, allowing Sasuke to retain his dignity as she spoke.

"We need to talk," Sakura covered fluidly, her eyes hard, her tone commanding. Sasuke sneered hatefully at her, but a rush of nausea wiped the look from his face. "Now," Sakura snapped, ignoring the looks everyone gave her. She leaned forward, her hair covering her face to obscure her lips as she darted closer to Sasuke under the pretense of shifting her weight. "You're not fooling me, get up  _now_ ," Sakura hissed into Sasuke's ear, and as Sasuke's stomach lurched he stood, making sure not to move too quickly, Sakura at his heels. Once they were out of the gallery, Sakura took the lead, pushing Sasuke down the hallway and sharply into a bathroom, opening the door with chakra threads as she ushered Sasuke through it. Sasuke felt too sick to make a rebuttal, or snarl at her, and he dropped to his knees before the toilet, vomiting into the water. Sasuke's pride whirled down the toilet along with the rest of the contents of his meal, but as he turned to Sakura, a defensive, vicious snarl on his face, he noted too late that there was no judgment there.

"You're pathetic," Sasuke spat, but his knees were weak and he felt shaky. Sakura lounged against the wall, turning the lock on the bathroom door, not giving any sign she'd heard him. Sasuke watched her like a wounded animal, but Sakura gave his cruel words no heed. Too long she'd dealt with drug-abusing patients; they all acted the same. Just because it was Sasuke didn't make his words more harmful. Hospital work had given Sakura a thick skin, and she simply watched him, unamused, bored.

"You could say thanks," Sakura said, studying her nails with slight interest, rubbing at some dirt under a fingernail. She wondered where the sudden armor had come from, shielding her vulnerable heart from Sasuke's poisonous claws, but she wasn't going to question it. "Are you done?" Sakura asked callously, and Sasuke knew she meant his attitude, not his physical wellbeing.

"You're - " but another surge of rejected food interrupted Sasuke's sentence, and he turned to face the toilet once more. He heaved and spat into the water, shivering lightly, and Sakura noted the sheen of sweat on his skin. "Don't think I give a shit about you," Sasuke spat, "you're spineless and worthless. I wish I'd killed you back in Sound." Sakura absorbed the words, but to her own surprise she felt no reaction. The words tugged ever so slightly at her heart, but they mostly bounced off. Sakura wondered if it was her medical reflexes kicking in. Sasuke was too much like the rest of the drug-addled patients Sakura had treated, and they'd said far worse. Sakura was too used to being insulted now, too experienced, too seasoned. Just because it was Sasuke didn't mean he broke down all her walls with a few choice words. Besides, it was him hunched over the toilet, accepting Sakura's support, and that was enough.

"When was the last time you used?" Sakura asked, no inflection in her voice, waiting patiently for Sasuke's response. She waited as he retched again, but there was nothing left to throw up. Sasuke remained mutinously silent, standing, refusing to let Sakura see how shaky and weak he felt. "For God's sake," Sakura snapped, and she rolled her eyes as she stepped forward. She caught Sasuke's elbow and hauled him over to the sink, and withdrew her touch immediately. "I am a Medic at Konoha Hospital. I've seen too many people like you, scores of people much worse than you are now. Swallow your pride or I will force it down your throat. I don't give a shit about your ego, all I care about is your life." Sasuke sneered at Sakura in response, venomous, rage bubbling inside him. But he felt too weak to hit her, to wrap his hands around her delicate throat, and the unfamiliar weights at his wrists made it impossible. "How do you feel?" Sakura asked, and when Sasuke refused to answer her she repeated the question, undaunted, patient.

"Do you think you can save me, Sakura?" Sasuke jeered, his tone disparaging, full of nothing but contempt. Sakura remained silent, not rising to Sasuke's bait, settling instead to stare at him quietly. "Do you think I'll change, for  _you_?" Sasuke sneered, his eyes flitting over her with derision. "Do you want me to fall in love with you, Sakura?" he crooned, deliberately drawing out the length of her name, taunting, clutching the edges of the sink with white-knuckled hands, his eyes dark in the mirror as he peered at her through the reflection. Sakura had long become a master of schooling away her expressions, filing them away before they even appeared on her face, and she didn't slip up. She simply stared back at Sasuke through the grubby mirror, waiting. Sakura waited until Sasuke's snarl fell from his face; she waited until the disdain crumbled from him like castles made out of sand.

Sakura wanted; she wanted him so badly she felt like the longing would rip out of her chest with its dark, feathery wings and smother everything around her. But she wasn't a fool. So she quelled the bitterness, stemmed the emotional lust aching in her chest. Instead she focused on observation, noting the sweat sliding from Sasuke's forehead into his hair, watching the repressed shivers he suppressed in his spine. Sakura blinked, her eyes fastened on the Uchiha symbol, counting the individual threads until Sasuke turned off the tap. Sasuke reached for the off-white towel, sliding it from the ring and rubbing it roughly over his face.

"You're still going through withdrawal," Sakura said as Sasuke pulled the dampened towel from his face, haphazardly slotting it back through the ring. "You didn't do a very good job of weaning yourself off them," she stated coolly, meeting his eyes levelly, internally wondrous at her sudden courage. It flowed through her, filling the cracks in the walls of her soul, plugging up the insecurities. She always was most confident in what she did best - healing. Sakura had truly found herself in the Medical Profession, and now it was shining through. "I gave you anesthetics while I operated on you, that's why you haven't felt the withdrawal until now. So, I ask again - how often did you use? How much? When?" Sasuke ignored Sakura, but she merely gave him a humorless smile before pressing him again. "In severe withdrawals, the repercussions can often end in seizures, strokes, or heart attacks. Did you cut cold turkey?" Sakura bored her eyes into Sasuke's, refusing to crack. Sasuke stared back, his stare cutting and cold, waiting for Sakura to look away or falter. When it became clear that she would do neither of these things, he shook his head infinitesimally, and Sakura nearly smirked in satisfaction. "I will give you painkillers until we get back to Konoha, where I will run a chemical test on your blood. I will be able to wean you off the drugs properly once we do. Until then, I will supply you with painkillers so you do not experience the withdrawal symptoms that you have right now. Are we clear?" Sakura asked.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, and Sakura took that as victory. She reached out with slow, purposeful fingers, and Sasuke captured them in his vice-like grip, the metal at his wrists clanking together and sliding several centimeters down his skin. Sakura didn't flinch, breaking his hold easily, and Sasuke stared mulishly into her eyes as she lightly touched his forehead. Sakura flowed chakra through her fingers and dulled Sasuke's pounding headache, stepping back from him as her hand fell from his forehead, turning around briskly, walking back to the gallery. They said nothing to each other. Sasuke longed to wrap his fingers around Sakura's throat; longed to strangle her with the iron chain linking his wrists together, until her pale skin turned blue-black and until the life faded from her eyes. But he did none of those things, simply watched Sakura with brooding, wicked eyes, silently plotting. Sasuke would tear her apart eventually. He would ruin her life and Naruto's like Konoha had ruined his. He would besmirch them all with his misery; he would paint the town of Konoha red. Sasuke would destroy them, and he would do it slowly. He'd kill them before they realized they were already dead.


End file.
